Breaking Ties
by EclipsedbyJacob
Summary: When her past comes back to haunt her family, will Bella have the strength to break the ties that bind her to a dark and violent life and a man worthy of her worst nightmares? Or is hope gone the moment Dracula enters Volterra? Sequel to Changing Sides.
1. Prologue

**Stephenie Meyers invented the characters, I just like to abuse them for personal gratification...**

**Thanks to my super special beta Gondolier, whose hard work has inspired so much...**

**Breaking Ties**

**Prologue**

_I heard the footsteps falling on the softened earth long before they reached my chamber. I was irritated with the interruption, as I was sure I had almost achieved true unconsciousness that time. My mind shrieked with the curses of a thousand ancient tongues._

_But my curiosity was always stronger than my fury, which was the reason I still remained whole. When the others of my coven had simply given in to death, my morbid curiosity kept me alive and bound to this world in a way that would never be severed._

_The footsteps muted as they approached the hallowed tomb low beneath the m__onastery where I had rested alongside my brother for these many years. There was heaviness to the dust and loose earth that pressed against my body, giving me the only indication of how much time had truly passed. The earth against my back was thick and wet. However, the result was pleasantly uncomfortable._

_A muffled grunt sounded in the darkness, and the heavy door pressed in against squelching mud. The ancient wood was shifted, hinges protesting with sharp squeals. A timid man entered the moldering, putrid room, letting in a rush of new air. I snapped my eyes open to glare at him as the fresh air hit my skin. He stared at me, eyes red and wild with terror._

_"It is time," he choked._

_"You're sure?" I growled so he would understand what would happen if I'd been disturbed without cause._

_The man was visibly trembling. "There is a woman. She bears the message you have been awaiting, my lord."_

_My lips twisted unnaturally into some semblance of a grin. I did not have to ask him what the message was, because there was only one answer I desired. "Very good," I dismissed him. "Bring my brother and I sustenance immediately. Then awaken the army."_

_He nodded and was gone in an instant, gratefully fleeing the way he had come. I was left alone with my thoughts again, but this time, an excited undertone exploded in my mind. I'd languished in my pathetic grave—a grave I'd spent infinite seconds mourning my losses-for far too long. Now my resurrection had come, and I'd take back what was rightfully mine. _

_It was then my thoughts turned back to the face that had plagued me for centuries. I could still remember her: the way her deep chocolate hair caught the sunlight and blazed red like her anger; the way her beauty could dull any room, for she was truly a beacon among men; the way she smiled, always a bit mischievously, but cloaked in an innocence that was hers alone. An innocence snatched from both our hands. She had been my reason for life, my reason for existence. I would never leave this world before she was mine, as she was fated to be. Everything had been for her-this endless time in silent, solitary torment. I cannot let any of it be in vain._

_Now, there was much to be done. _

_Hundreds of years of planning, and I would see this to its end, so help me. There was still much to be decided. But wherever this world went from here, its course depended on one soul alone. Now, I would have to build my strength so I could go to her. My hour was at hand at long last, and I would have her in my grasp once more. _

_I turned to my companion slowly and stiffly, and roused him with a shake of his ancient shoulder. _

_"Brother," I whispered my voice hoarse with the disuse of centuries. "Time to rise."_

_"Curse your rotten feces," he growled unmoving beneath the pile of damp sludge heaped atop him._

_"Brother," my words as cool as ice. "The time is nigh." _

_A black eye snapped wide to glare at me. I was momentarily disgusted by the way his flesh seemed to have mortified and crusted over the exposed pupil and it seemed to rip open. I prayed that my body had fared better than his lying untouched for so long._

_"You have found her?" _

_"Yes," I smiled at my brother. "She will be mine again, and together we will take back everything we have lost."_

_The dust and rotted clothing fell from him like snow as he struggled upright, the joints of his body groaning in protest after lying rigid and unused for ages. He matched my leer with a fierceness that revealed what hid just inside his crumbling exterior. _

_A sigh of relief escaped my reanimated kin._

_"Finally."_

**As always, review, then come play at the forums at Twilighted. My thread is under the Evil Bella post in the AU category. I will post spoilers and teasers and other important stuff (like I totally geeked out and made a little video, and you'll be able to find the link there if you don't make too much fun of me.) Stay with me on this one. I have a beta - Gondolier - who is made of magic. I kid you not. It's going to be an amazing a tale....**


	2. Unwelcome

**As always, characters belong to SM, but I am delightfully molding them into my own creations...**

**Big shout out to my incredible beta who is 100% awesome. Gondolier, you make this beautiful...**

**And so begins the next chapter...**

**Chapter 1**

**Unwelcome Intrusions**

The way I imagined it, Felix would have been alone forever. Not that he deserved an existence of solitude, but because I couldn't stand to see another woman in his arms. Even if I did have Edward. But the way she looked at him was positively sinful, and it irked me to no end. Her tittering giggle made me want to hit something. Or vomit, I really hadn't decided which it was yet. Jasper, noticing my obvious discomfort, winked from across the room. I don't know how he could stand it, pretending to be related to that.

I rolled my eyes at him. So, I was selfish. I was a jealous and petty woman, who despised this flippant hussy on first sight.

The blond was wrapped in Felix's arms, Alice and Rosalie talking excitedly to the pretentious couple, their respective mates watching the girls fawn over each other. Tanya was giggling at whatever foolishness had recently slid from Felix's mouth, and I had to bite my tongue not to make retching noises at the cozy little scene. Even the soft warm browns and gold of my office did nothing to prevent the upsurge of venom as her kittenish voice gnawed at my ears. I suppose the girl could be considered pretty, if you liked the full figured, succubus type, but I was not impressed in the slightest. She was overly clingy, blinked her eyes too much in attempt to appear coy, as if she had a massive glob of mascara in her eye. She was irritatingly dressed to the hilt in spiked red heels and the perfect little black dress, which unfortunately looked amazing. In fact, I was even a bit jealous of the dress itself. I'd pull it off so much better. But what made her absolutely unbearable was the fact she had spent the better part of the past century desperately trying to snare Edward in her meticulously painted clutches.

Furthermore, she was obviously dense, even for a blond.

_Stupid bloodsucking blonde cow_, my thought turned icy as she snuggled closer into Felix's chest. At least Tanya appeared bloated. That made me feel better, if only slightly.

Felix, the dumb son of a bitch, found her somewhere in Alaska, whoring herself to the humans. I imagine it hadn't been hard to convince her to accompany him home. The Cullens referred to the coven in Denali as an extended family of sorts, but it wouldn't have taken even that much, I'm sure. I knew better than anyone the things Felix was capable of in the bedroom. Put that next to some measly human cock, and was there a decision, really? So, he brought her home to my complete displeasure. She was already grating on my nerves, and they'd only officially been back two hours. Lord, why did I agree to receive them at all? I should have put it off until this evening.

Like a messenger sent by God, Alec chose that moment to step into the meeting room. He caught my eye, and I gratefully followed him from the room. I didn't bother with a goodbye. Volterra was a small city. I undoubtedly would run into them sooner rather than later, even if I tried to hide.

I followed Alec down the stairs of the building to its heart deep below ground. It still smelt of new carpet and fresh paint, though it would hardly be considered new anymore. I suppose I would always think of it that way. It was easier than to remember the ancient arrangements of stone, each holding a thousand memories of my previous life.

Before, Volterra had been steeped in history, aged with the evils of its past. I had played my own role, notoriously staining the city with death and torture. On the outside, it had once boasted of an arrogant and ageless society behind the enclose walls. The side of Volterra that lay hidden in the darkest corners was nothing so obvious. It was as bloody, cruel, and foreboding a place as had ever existed. The very thing of nightmares just inside the edges of its pressing darkness. So, I was glad the familiar stonework of old now lay in unfamiliar patterns. It helped to disguise my own monstrosities.

Since the initial debate over the best way to rebuild the city, I had quietly pushed for the ghosts of the past to remain buried in the ashes. I wanted the brothers to be remembered only for what happened when the mighty fell. Atop their graves, at the very site where the Volturi met their end now stood the modern superstructure where I had my offices. It jutted an excessive hundred stories into the sky, making it visible from almost anywhere in the countryside. The monolithic building pierced the landscape like a marbled knife, placing me at the very top of my little corner of the world. And to be honest, I liked that feeling.

The streets of the city remained cobbled avenues, because humans delighted in their _quaintness_. I gave in to that, as well as the reconstruction of the walls around the city, as long as the underground remained intact. The tunnels beneath Volterra served as the very lifeline of vampire society for centuries. Without them, we'd be useless in daylight hours. With them, we maintain our secrets, while living and working in such close quarters. Thus, they remained a necessity, but served to recall I had spent the beginning of my existence inside these miles of twisting corridors, committing unspeakable horrors. It hadn't been easy to talk the humans out of more modern, sanitary septic replacements, but, in the end, everything turned out the way I desired. It helped that there wasn't a human male who absolutely could not say no to Rosalie when she turned up her charms. She was certainly a piece of work, and had been instrumental in many of the changes New Volterra had under gone.

The things that had remained unchanged, the streets and walls, along with most of the human domiciles around the edges of the city, served as bitter daily reminders for me. It was perhaps only further reason to build my tower so high. I could look over it, pretend like it never existed in any other form, even like it didn't exist at all. I tried to convince myself none of it had actually happened, but it was impossible. My mind was regrettably too perfect, and all the memories of my polluted deeds hid in pristine condition and just at the edge of conscious thought.

Alec ushered me into one of the old cells. It was similar to the ones where I had met Alice and Jasper for the first time, when they struck like lightening and changed my destiny. But the soft curves of the cave, deeply surrounded by hundreds of feet of earth and rock in all directions afforded a privacy that was rare anywhere in the city. Especially with Jasper and Edward around. And Alice was, as usual, another story entirely, but I was able to keep her fairly shielded from having visions about me.

He closed the door with a resigned slump to his shoulders that was his constant companion.

"Still no sign of her," he said quietly.

I began pacing the short length of the barren space, immediately forgetting the uneasy feeling this particular part of the tunnel system put in my stomach. "Why?" I muttered to myself, thinking everything through. "Why can't we find her?"

"Maybe there's nothing to find, Bella," Alec tried to soothe my anxious mood. I stopped mid-stride to look at him. With his shoulders drooping forward and face blank, a surge of pity swept through me. Despite the fact I had taken his twin from him, Alec remained ever faithful and diligently stayed by my side. When he'd attacked me after the brothers' fall, he had naturally acted out of grief and I understood. In our willingness to move away from the sins of our past, we had forged a stronger bond than we'd shared before. But he seemed more a man than he had ever been. He was no longer afraid of the world outside the box his sister built for him. In fact, he seemed utterly thankful to be on his own for the first time in his life, able to branch out, find his own way. And each time I saw him, he seemed a bit more confident, a bit more cautious. Those were the reasons _he_ was the one, instead of lovesick Felix or my pure, loving Edward, whom I entrusted with the darkest of secrets.

"She's out there, Alec, I know it. Maybe if we searched Edinburgh again—those networks below the city…"

"I've been through Edinburgh, Cappadocia, Rome, Paris, Berlin, even Sicily, Bella. Godamnit, there isn't a single underground city I haven't searched through. She's gone. Move on."

I pinched my nose in an attempt to reign in my building anger at his insolence. It was a mannerism stolen by countless days spent in Edward's company, and yielded comfort when there was none. Things had settled down considerably since Volterra's fall, but I still couldn't shake these nagging suspicions. Even if Alice had seen anything, she probably wouldn't realize what she'd seen, and I wouldn't risk leaking anything. Maybe nothing was wrong. Maybe I was just overreacting, but I wouldn't gamble with any of their lives just to find out. Searching her out would have to be meticulous and dependant solely upon Alec's silent stealth and rigid training.

"I'll keep looking," he sighed, catching a glimpse of the turmoil playing over my features. "Perhaps South? Or I could try east again."

Yes," I interjected. "The Orient seems as logical as any other place, but I don't think their elders were lying when they said they hadn't seen her. I suppose they might be hiding any knowledge of her whereabouts. They've always been tightlipped creatures."

He was nodding, agreeing, like he was in a hurry to get away again. "I'll be on it right away. I'm thirsty, as it is."

It was my turn to nod him off. Alec lifted my hand, placed a platonic kiss on its back, and disappeared from the room.

I had strictly adhered to the idea of not hunting inside the city of Volterra, but I went a step farther, demanding anyone who wished to feed on human blood leave the city to do so. There would never again be a tour bus that would enter Volterra and not leave. No more meals served on the silver platter, so to speak.

I also had my Cullens to protect. They did not wish human blood, so they did not have it. I tried to follow their dietary habits as best I could, but was not able to abstain fully. Even though they all swore up and down it mattered not what color my eyes were, but that I was now capable of love I still felt wholly inadequate.

I personally hated that I couldn't stop drinking from humans. I was weak compared to the Cullen's resistance. But it was more than that. It was shameful when Edward was pure and strong in his desire to save a part of his humanity, and I couldn't even withstand a slight shift in the breeze. Fifty times in the past decade I had "slipped" with the wind and killed humans while hunting. Sometimes I disgracefully thought it might be easier to take the route Alec chose all along—admit I was a monster and give in to the guilty pleasures human blood afforded.

Like a coward, I found myself slipping into the sewers from the basement rather than joining the impromptu family reunion going on above ground. I belonged with the Cullens, but no where near that annoying wench Felix dragged home like a caveman. So I sneaked into the dark bowels of my city and raced toward home, where I knew Edward would be waiting.

The notes of his piano hit me as I neared our home. Waiting hadn't exactly been an apt description. He had become immovable for the past three days, lost in composition, and wouldn't be roused for anything, though lord knows I tried.

In fact, the more my mind thought it over, the more the idea sounded simply delicious. I was going to pry that man's fingers from the ivory keys, if it was the only thing I accomplished today.

Edward's hair was in complete disarray when I entered our sparsely furnished home. His head was hung over the black and white keys as if willing them to speak. Dark circles ringed somewhat sunken eyes, while he stared downward. But even from across the room I could see the desire of his act blazing in their depths. The stress was etched sharply into his brow. He was obviously struggling, and if I hadn't known better, I might have thought the strain would kill him. As it was, he looked thoroughly drained, beaten by his own foolish whim. It apparently took much more effort to compose music than I might have believed, but something told me that this was just Edward, who strived to be perfect in all things.

I found myself smiling as I watched him angst over his music. Gradually, he realized I was standing there. His smile was slow, but I saw the way his eyes lit when he looked at me. My own body reacted, sending a feverish tingle down my spine. Edward had always affected me so forcefully, and the magnetism between us had never faded. As if physically pulled to him, my body gravitated forward, with slow, sultry strides. His eyes absorbed my every move.

"You work too hard," I told him, sliding onto the bench next to him.

My absolute perfection of a lover leaned forward and touched his lips to mine briefly, tenderly. "Not hard enough or I'd be finished." His mind was still on his music.

A situation to be rectified shortly.

I leaned in again, taking his mouth more decently, and pulling his pouting bottom lip between mine. I backed slowly away from the intimate kiss, and now Edward smiled in earnest, giving _me_ his full attention.

"Thanks," he murmured softly. Then, in answer to my raised eyebrow, he added, "For reminding me why I'm doing this in the first place."

He stared deeply into my eyes, piercing me with an intensity that forced me to glance away. A plethora of emotions swirled inside those eyes, love, respect, adoration, awe.

He was simply too beautiful. And then that beauty was bending toward me, lips grazing my neck as they traveled toward my collarbone. His fingers played along the path his lips made, tracing my skin with the same attention, same grace he gave to his music. I moaned. I couldn't help it—this is what he pulled from my throat every time he created a symphony on my body. My hands swiftly wound through his hair and gently tugged him closer.

"You," he began between kisses, "are the most amazing creature in existence. It was foolish of me to think I could do you any justice with my notes. You are far too complicated, far too sensual, to be duplicated in any form."

I laughed lightly. His pillow talk wasn't always so delicate these days, having spent so much time beneath my sex driven body, but it reminded me desperately of the gentleman I once had beneath me. I turned the laugh into an inviting smile. I could be soft, too.

In a breathless voice, I purred into his ear. "I'm only those things because of you."

Edward laughed aloud before his lips touched mine again, still soft, but with an underlying passion that was less than chaste. My tongue teased against them begging to be closer, my fingertips trailed down his back. With hands on his waist, I moved closer and swung a leg over his, gracefully pulling myself onto his lap. His hands caressed my thighs eliciting a groan of triumph, having succeeded in stealing the attentions of the eternal beau. His arousal pressed between us, inviting me closer still.

I couldn't help but push back; an invitation of my own.

Breaking the kiss, in the same heated voice, I murmured, "I'll give you something more useful to do with those fingers, love. And I'll be much more appreciative of your pounding."

Well, so much for keeping it soft.

Edward growled, his muscles tensing at my words. He smiled wickedly into my skin. Then, my sweet gentlemanly vampire vanished. He ripped my shirt away too swiftly for my eyes to catch. It was another insignificant loss to the Alice mandated wardrobe, but I didn't flinch. In the next instant, his mouth was on my nipple, his hand following the soft curves of my chest. I let my body fall back against the ivory of the piano. A jarring sound reverberated from the instrument. Edward winced, but didn't stop, and I smirked, enjoying his increased attention to my body.

It was gratifying to know I had replaced the former love of Edward's life. It buoyed my spirits to be the one thing he treasured above all others, regardless of my own nagging beliefs that I was pitifully unworthy of it. Still, there was nothing in this world I would rather have than the unconditional love he showered on me so freely.

Edward's lips left my erect peak and deliberately kissed down the valley between my breasts, finally settling on the other. His hands trailed to the waist line of my jeans. My own arms frantically grabbed at his pants, pulling him even closer. One of his fingers slid under the denim, then lower, slipping beneath the fabric of my underwear. They pulled tight against my waist, barely conceding the space necessary to accommodate Edward's able fingers. But he applied a steady pressure between my legs, rendering the awkward position irrelevant.

A low growl escaped my throat. It was raw, unbridled, and aroused. I needed more. As ever, Edward was a step ahead, and he brought his eyes to mine. For a moment, we only stared into each other's eyes. Then, our mouths fell upon each other again, devouring each other in our arousal. This fervent pull between us had only strengthened during our years together. I craved Edward in every way possible; his body, his mind, his soul. And when I was in his embrace, I was lost to him.

That was why, when Jasper burst into the room, I hardly realized the compromising position in which I'd been caught--sprawled across the bench like a slave giving into the orders of her master. My head was thrown off the edge, looking right at the door as he ducked into the room. I hardly remember Edward ripping my jeans away and tossing my naked body this way. He'd proceeded to attack my center with a desire and ecstasy I had only known with him.

So, it had been as I lay there, absorbed in Edward's expert fingers and mouth making their own music upon my body that Jasper was suddenly inside the room.

"Edward!" he shouted, as if he'd been calling him for awhile. His eyes were cast downward, and an amused embarrassment washed over me, courtesy of the unpleasant situation. I reminded myself that he probably _had _been shouting silently at Edward all along.

It was only when I saw Jasper bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet that his intense unease penetrated my mind above his embarrassment. It apparently had a similar affect on Edward as well. My lover looked up from between my legs. I could only hope he wasn't grinning, but I couldn't, from my current position, see.

"What do you want?" I rasped, still too incoherent to not pant out my words.

The two of them had a silent conversation that only last half a second. And Edward was tucking his shirt around my exposed body. He was standing straight, staring hard at Jasper as he pulled on his pants, without bothering to find his underwear. The abrupt mood shift left me a bit unbalanced, even as he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my lips. Tasting the results of his nimble tongue caused a growl to vibrate through my throat once more. Instead of sounding seductive as the earlier ones, this one left no doubt to my darkening temperament. Edward attempted a smile, he didn't achieve, his gaze never quite settling back to mine as he whispered a rushed goodbye.

"Meet me in the tower," he told me, and was gone.

Naturally a bit piqued and completely unsatisfied, I took my time redressing. I knew it was important, but I also had no doubt they would tell me everything, no matter when I arrived. Slowly, I made my way back through the city's deep bowels. I was already speculating on what had happened, but given Jasper's wild state, I could guess it had something to do with Alice.

I ran my hand along the stones of the underground tunnel, the walls already slick with grime despite their newness. It was then a scene flashed in my mind's eye. Something in the familiarity of the greased stones sparked a wild memory.

_I was running down a similar corridor, but it wasn't Volterra, and I didn't recognize the place as anywhere I had physically been. Someone was chasing me, and I felt a fevered thud in my chest, as a human heart frantically pounded its terror. My feet slid against the slick moss of the rocks beneath them, while I cast nervous, expectant glances behind me. Any moment, my pursuer would be on me._

_I fled, deeper down the blackened tunnel, relying simply on the human sense of touch to continue on the path. Despite not being able to feel both sides of the tunnel with my arms stretched out wide, I felt the overwhelming constriction of the blackness. It seemed to press in against my lungs, making each winded breath more difficult to inhale than the last. But, still, I kept running, constantly aware where I was heading, despite my conscious being wholly unfamiliar with the place, and ever aware of the menacing presence that cackled out from behind me._

_It was a woman's laugh, drowned with malice and hatred. Even as I saw this, recognizing it as a lost memory, terror flooded my system. It was as if I was caught back in the moment of pursuit. Nothing I'd heard to this point in my existence ignited the feeling of hopelessness that my mind recalled. _

_That was why I ran; because there was no hope._

_My feet hit a raised surface, throwing me forward with enough force to slam my chin into the stone staircase. The warmth of an open wound spilled down my face, and I brought a trembling hand forward, touching the sticky surface of my face. The tacky blood that smeared across my fingertips when I brought my hand away to inspect it was a sickly velvet, and my mind swirled dizzily at the sight of my life force freely seeping from the gash._

_I gasped, both in memory and in present, as the final blow took my mind. She would have me now for sure. Holding a gentle hand to my chin, I stumbled up the winding staircase, following it all the way to the roof of the castle. I was only partially surprised when nothing grabbed me from behind as I threw myself higher up the castle._

_I reached the uppermost balcony, providing an unobstructed view down the side of the mountain to the Arges River, and the dreary little village nestled between the steep incline and the river's edge. Far below me, my eyes fell to the silhouette of a man I knew immediately, though I was too far above him to see properly._

_The woman's voice cackled from behind me, sending ribbons of shudders down my spine, as I hesitantly leaned farther into the railing. I could feel her cold skin as she closed the distance between us, with slow steps. Her breath touched my neck, causing my instincts to react, further leaning away. _

_In the end, there was still no hope in my mind. _

Tremors shook my body, pushing the hazy memory back into its hole. I stood in the tunnel, beneath my city, breathing in the stale scent of mildew and musty stench of ancient rotting earth. It took a moment for my eyes to readjust to my present surroundings. One hand was braced against the curve of the wall, and the other across my knee. My body was bent forward trying desperately to suck in the useless oxygen. I felt like I had died all over again, but this memory did nothing to correspond to my actual recollections in regards to the end of my mortality.

As my breathing slowed, I righted my posture, but kept a firm palm against the wall, like it was the only thing keeping me upright. My knees felt weak, rubbery, while my eyes roved over my surroundings, half expecting the madwoman to corner me in this reality as well. I could still hear the ghosts of my heartbeat as it echoed through my ears, fading slowly into each other, until there was only my even breathing disrupting the silent hallway.

I took another long moment to reign back in any lingering emotions, so as not to alert Jasper. My vision seemed too personal to be answering questions, so with a hard swallow, I continued on my way to the tower where I had left the rest of the Cullens only hours ago.

In an attempt to push the feeling of trepidation back inside, I forced my mind back to the matters at hand. Many of these past ten years had seen the Cullen family spread far and wide across the globe, each playing their own unique purpose in the development of my empire. Emmett had led a group that canvassed the Eastern hemisphere, leading a mostly peaceful mission, much to his displeasure. Felix headed the other group, spanning westward, and flushed out my would-be enemies. Alice had gone with him, mostly to keep her from beneath my toes, as I uprooted the current system of laws, but also because her accuracy for prediction was uncanny. A true asset in the field. Rosalie remained at my side, becoming the official spokeswoman for my campaign. I had to settle myself in a position of power with little human notice. The immediate aftermath of that day had left the name of vampire spilling from nations worldwide. It had been genius in ridding the city of the larger portion of Guardsmen, but the problems created after were trying. Even as my small armies fanned outward, we were battling against resurgence in human belief in our kind. We were forced to tread lightly in all matters, as we fabricated a seamless bridge between the end of the Volturian dictatorship (as all of the royal family was decimated in the collapse of their tower during the earthquake) and the new elected government. I retained the position of High Advisor with little falsehood, and sat happily aloof at the very top of the newly established government, above even the elected executive. I had the final say in all things if I chose. Rosalie had been largely in charge of portraying the new face to the vampire society as well. Though stunningly gorgeous, her eyes alone were hard as any, and even colder. Despite her husband's sheer brawn, hers was the strength needed to sell the new leadership.

My unexpected family set about their various missions and fancies, but over the last two years, they had begun to trickle back to Volterra in pairs, ready to settle for awhile. I'd missed them all during the long absences, but remained content, having Edward stay at my side. But, the consistency of the loyalty and friendship of the Cullen family knew no restraint, and served to fulfill my life in ways I had never known possible, even when they were away. As a result, I felt gentled, less cynical, guided by their loving influence. I was a changed woman in so many ways because of their unconditional love and respect.

I stepped back into my office, not entirely surprised to see Edward and Jasper gravely sitting on a small bench with Alice sandwiched between them. Her head hung in her hands, as her shoulders shook softly with emotion. Emmett and Rosalie stood to one side next to Felix, and the blond bimbo was on her knees, patting Alice's leg in a comforting way. I tried to push back my jealousy as it began to bubble to the surface. I had to remind myself that she'd known the Cullens much longer than I, and had every right to try to comfort someone she considered family.

I purposefully cleared my throat and all eyes turned to me, including Alice's, which were dark and strained. The sudden attention made me uncomfortable, and I hesitated near the doorway. It was Jasper who spoke first, his face still bearing the signs of his earlier panic.

"Alice has had a vision," he said simply.

"Of course." I hadn't meant to sound curt.

The blond had risen to her feet with my entrance; I coolly moved past her and sunk to the ground in front of Alice. Gently, I took her hands with mine, careful not to break our eye contact.

"What have you seen?"

She swallowed loudly, and I felt all eyes bore into us.

"Someone will betray you."

Her whispered words hung in the empty air, like a grenade with the pin missing.

The panic trickled through my body. It took my last bit of resolve to push it back down and hold my hands steady.

"Who?" I finally asked.

She could only shake her head. "It's not good, Bella, but no decisions have been finalized. My visions are all over the place." She paused for a moment and squeezed my hand tighter. "I'm glad you're here so I can block them, even if it is temporary."

I was afraid she might miss something by repressing her visions, but I was hesitant to make Alice feel uncomfortable. I also didn't want her to know more than she should. If her vision had anything to do with Alec's mission, I knew _exactly_ who would betray me.

That was the simple answer.

The harder part was trying to figure out what would happen next.

"What did you see?" I repeated my voice steady and firm.

In a low, detached voice, Alice spoke. "There are fires...purple fires, rising into the black sky... tall, sharp trees pointing to the sky … shadows dancing at the edges of ancient forests … winding rivers … roads …" her voice quavered as she paused, looking into her own mind. "… and ... there is laughing, screaming, and pain ... and ... and death." Her words finished in a strangled sob.

I gently extricated my hand from her grasp and lifted it to her face to keep her eyes on mine. She was trying to close them.

"Who dies?" I pressed.

Alice only shook her head back and forth, incapable of answering.

The following silence was palpable, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Edward reach up to slide his entire hand slowly down his face, shielding his eyes as if he were trying to hide the swirling emotions from the room. But, the haunted shadow over his face betrayed his pure misery.

It did nothing to prevent my earlier day dream from jumping back into my mind, as details I hadn't noticed originally swam into the foreground of the memory.

_As I stood, precariously perched against the railing of the high balcony, my eyes had been drawn downward, settling on a naked patch of forest beneath me. Tall timber, cut to sharpened points, stood in rows like soldiers at attention. It was in the shadow of the stripped and naked trees that a shadow stood. My human stomach roiled and emptied itself over the rail. The female's voice cackled from behind me._

The memory faded again. I didn't need Alice's answer. I knew who had died in her vision, but remained at a loss to explain why her premonitions correlated to memories my mind had repressed until this very day.

Though the weight of this knowledge fell on to me like a landslide, I straightened up, and looked around at my family. Felix had just slipped in the door and moved directly to his newly formed growth with long legs and blond hair. Seeing the woman I despised for no reason other than her proximity to Felix, allowed me to summon a confidence I didn't feel. I was determined to protect them. All of them--blond included, only because she seemed currently attached to my sidekick.

"I won't ever allow anything to happen to any of you," I vowed.

"You think we care about what happens to us? Bella—" Edward began, a sudden and intense stare melting into me.

But Rose spoke through his protest, completely unconcerned, "You know Alice's visions aren't set in stone, Edward. This probably isn't anything to worry about."

Edward's anger began to visibly boil. Jasper stood to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, but the look in his eye told me he was far from appeased. Before he could open his mouth to begin the long winded rant I could already see him building, Carlisle stepped forward.

"As always, my family thanks you for your desire to protect us, but we won't allow you to risk your own safety for the sake of anyone else. I believe we can look at this and find a rational way of dealing with any of the implications." He turned to look at Edward. "As it stands, nothing Alice has seen has given any indication of time, or reason, so all we can do at present is wait to see if she develops further insight." There was finality about his tone that left Edward little for rebuttal. He swallowed hard, and set his face with cool indifference.

Still, despite any assurances, Alice still looked no better. She kept her eyes trained to the floor, hands rubbing up and down her own arms.

And Felix stood still as stone, arms wrapped around his shiny new toy, and sent his cocksure gaze at me the way he always did. He always was confident in whatever I did, backed whatever decisions I made, and now was no different.

"I trust you to protect us." He said like I was the only other one in the room.

But Edward ... poor Edward was devastated, in a way I hadn't seen him in a decade. His whole body seemed crumpled, and his face was ashen and dark. It would scare me, if I didn't understand what caused his anguish. He _knew_, above everyone, I would hold true to the words I spoke, no matter the cost.

A grimace settled over Edward's features, while he continued to look directly at me. After a moment, his normally velvet tone was masked by an even dullness that I'd never heard before, and he said, "I know you will."

He spoke as if it were the worst possible thing I could do, as if loving them so much was suddenly an unforgivable sin.

No one else said a word.

**A/N: Reviews are ecstacy.**

**And when you're done with that, I have to reccomendations for you...**

**My new Canadian Cowboy friend( and he probably will not think its funny I called him Canadian Cowboy), Master of the Boot at Twilighted, has written a crossover worthy of both the Hellsing Magna and Twilight (fanfic style). This isn't your normal fanfiction, ladies (and gents?) but its packed full of action and intrigue. And Alucard - star of the Hellsing Magna? Oh my god...If the bad guy gets you off, check out both MotB's story and the youtubes of the anime. Something about him (cartoon or no) is too hard not to be frightfully attracted to... And come on. Doesn't a guy's take on the Twilight world just totally intrigue you?  
**

**And (Beware of the shameless plug) if you haven't read Changing Sides, by yours truly, go check it out. I'm going to make references to it, but it's not like you have that much to do, right? It's only the size of a _small _novel...**

**Just kidding!~**

**Now, go review, and keep reading!  
**


	3. Disquiet

**Stephenie Meyers owns all things Twilight, but this is not the history she set up for it. The Twilight Lexicon was invaluable, as was Wikipidia. But remember, this is my own twisted reality, and not everything is as it seems...Maybe you better get a pencil. This may be info overload...And if you know your history, I hope I did it justice...**

**And, a special thanks to Gondolier who totally made this chapter readable, and the Twilighted betas, who are a million shades of awesome for dedicating the time to reading all these chapters...Must be a tough life....**

**Chapter 2**

**Disquiet**

Alec sent a courier who arrived at dusk with a message. He came to the tower to find me finally alone in my office, running through the most recent proposals from the humans. Honestly, I was growing surly at their asinine concerns. I headed the executive political office, and everything- every bit of legislation, levied tax increase, or school board proposal fell on my desk, before any action was taken. To the humans, I was the mayor of this city, but to vampires the world over, I was _it: _the top of the food chain, the saving grace, the end all, be all of vampires, and there wasn't a soul among them who desired the receiving end of my displeasure. I had already illustrated how dire a mistake that would be.

The newest human idea was to place hanging plants around the length of the wall. For whatever reason, they saw it as a good way to improve the still budding sense of "community" which wasn't reforming as quickly as they would have liked. Usually Edward or Esme handled the more sensitive roles in regard to human interaction: building homeless shelters, public gardens, libraries, the music hall, but much fell into my lap before I delegated the task to others. Humans were always seeking ways to make their droll, meaningless lives more bearable.

As if to prove my thoughts true, the courier entered my open office, mouth dropping open as he eyed me with the lewd hunger only a human was capable of. Reclining in my chair, I smiled at the plain-looking man. His heart leaped into a frantic pounding. Walking forward nervously, he handed me an electronic clipboard for my signature. Without a word, I signed and sent him away with a quick wave of the hand. His disappointment was evident, but he turned and was gone without a further glance.

I didn't notice, having been much more interested in my name written in Alec's loopy writing and the postmark from Romania.

I opened the package to see a single sheet of paper, short, and written in his hand:

_Isabella,_

_There seems to be disquiet among the humans here. It accompanies the unease in their skies. The Carpathian Mountains have been shrouded in dark clouds for months, and people are getting nervous. The very air here smells rank, and I have to agree with the human assessment. I don't want to think who might be responsible, but there's no one else to blame. Not just anyone could create this kind of foreboding. There are towns along the shadow of the mountains, which are decimated in a single night. I haven't seen this kind of darkness since...well...since the beginning, Bella. I fear it is something much worse than what we originally assumed. I beg you tread lightly until the uncertainty has passed._

_Be safe._

_Alec_

I read it half a dozen times in quick succession. Each time it became more inconceivable. My mind raced with a stream of rationalizations, desperately trying to believe this letter didn't truly denote what Alec had implied. I didn't notice as my grasp tightened on the sheet, balling it into a small imprint of the inside of my palm. It was clear that whatever was happening there wasn't good, though he seemed to have little details. Immediately, I was on the phone, trying to ring his cell, but he must have been out of range.

When the voicemail picked up, I said quickly, "Alec, I have a terrible feeling about this. Don't go anywhere near the Romanians. This is not to be handled lightly. If that is indeed who we're dealing with, we'll need to formulate a plan of action. Do not go in alone, Alec. Get back with me before you do anything else."

I was nervous for the first time in ten blissfully uneventful years. Now, my stomach churned uncomfortably and I found myself inexplicably thirsty, though I'd fed only yesterday. I flipped open my phone again.

Edward didn't answer either, so I left him a message, telling him I was going hunting and I'd call him later. Then I swept from my office, letting my thoughts wash over me and drag me under.

I had been searching for one of the Volturi we had been unable to account for after the massacre. This was what Alec had been doing the past decade, though he maintained the belief she'd perished with the many others. I had always wondered if she was still alive. Within the Volturi, no one who hated me worse than she. With that in mind, I had been waiting for word of her. I knew that if anyone survived to try and enact revenge, it would be Heidi.

Our mutual animosity grew from a single incident in the mid twentieth century. Heidi had been with the guard, serving as a kind of lunch lady for the city, for thirty years. I admittedly paid her little attention during the first seventy-five years she'd been in our ranks. I merely accepted her as Aro's newest place to stick his petrified erection. It was a job "perk" I luckily never shared with most of the female Guard.

The reason I hated her was as petty and thin as why I loathed the new attachment in Felix's arms. Felix had made it clear from his change in 1700, that he wanted me. I was coy and distant with him, treating his affections like a game. Twenty years later, when Carlisle came to Volterra, I as well as forgot about Felix.

He was sent out on frequent missions and became a distant memory. After Carlisle departed, I threw myself into my work, only taking what I needed, as far as self-satisfaction was concerned. My only obsession was my job. Men were merely tools. In fact, it wasn't until Felix gave up on me and started a relationship with Heidi that I allowed him a second thought outside of our professional association. Suddenly I found Felix beyond desirable. And most likely, because I knew he would choose me over her, I charmed him from her bed and into mine. That's when I discovered Felix's own special talents.

Heidi had never gotten over it, and made it clear to anyone who'd listen what a foolish mistake Felix had made. Naturally, he had me and no longer cared, but the incessant flapping of her jaw caused my previous obliviousness toward her to wane. Our rapport became muddled in anger, which festered for decades. To me, she became nothing more than an annoyance I dealt with on a daily basis. She was nothing compared to me--my place and position was high amongst the Elite, and it infuriated her to no end.

My first suspicions of her arose as Volterra was cleared of debris after the brothers' end, and her remains were nowhere to be found. Many of those fighting that day vanished for good, but I didn't trust her. My instincts had honed perfection over the years, and I could sense a real threat. It was in those following days that I began to realize I had underestimated Heidi all along. And it seemed even more likely that Aro had chosen to change her for reasons beyond her hunting prowess and pretty face. He always had ulterior motives in most of his scheming. I was ashamed I hadn't truly taken the time to notice it before, but Heidi suddenly amassed a dark sense of foreboding in my mind. And now, my assumptions were proving correct.

I ran through the shadowy underground, which was as natural to navigate as running itself. After a second thought, I veered, deciding to ask Edward to accompany me. Lord knew I could use his steady familiar companionship right now, whether I divulged to him what had me pushing to remember things better left in the past.

My home was quiet, but not silent as I slipped through the door in the basement. On the upper story I could hear the soft splash of water. I growled softly at the implication of finding my love naked under the rushing water. He was already getting ready for tonight.

With a stealth learned from centuries of rigorous Volturi training, I crept up the narrow wooden staircase that had been built especially for our abode, and stepped lightly down the hallway.

Edward hummed lightly, thoughts still straining over his composition. He'd explained that he'd never fought so hard to compose any piece before, and it was infuriating. I smiled to myself, aware of my hold over my love, and peeked around the edge of the door.

A flesh colored silhouette moved lazily behind the fogged glass. Even distorted by the thick condensation, he was utterly remarkable. I gazed for awhile longer, losing myself for a moment in his perfection, before ducking back into the hallway. I quickly dashed into my room, and changed into a pair of red terry cloth pants, and a matching jacket, zipping it to my neck. I looked around the room, noticing two black garment bags hung near the closets. Alice had already dropped off our clothing for the banquet she was holding tonight. At least I wouldn't have to worry about what to wear. My wardrobe, to Alice's utter dissatisfaction, was nearly nonexistent. And it didn't help that Edward was constantly ripping clothing from my body.

With that thought, I pulled my hair into a messy bun, and bent to pick up my discarded clothing. I added Edward's sweats to the pile. Inhaling the scent that is Edward, I carried them to the hamper. He was still humming in the confines of the shower, and I didn't have the heart to interrupt him, though the idea of him shredding more fabric off of me had my temperature rising. I stole a final glance around the bathroom door, watching him run his hands through his wet hair, before swiftly exiting the house. Edward would get my message when he finished, and join me if he desired.

In the meantime, I sped through the maze of underground caverns and walkways, until I was free of Volterra's walls, and speeding into the trees. My mind quickly turned back to thoughts of Alec's letter, and his mission in Romania.

What other reason would there be such discourse in Romania, than Heidi's drive to destroy me? Things had been quiet there for centuries, for much longer than I could remember. Already, the feeling had me thinking on the past. The past I knew mainly from stories of my early years. Dreadful stories…Stories I hadn't thought of in ages.

But, to remember the Romanian tale, I had to first think of the wives. It was something I didn't enjoy doing. The last time I had seen those bitches they were trying to kill me. Of course, Didyme must have been different than her sisters, as she had given her life to save mine so many years ago. Despite the immense capacity of an immortal's ability to recall the infinite details of history, vampires _can_ be killed, and ages of our own lore had faded over the eons.

Legend had it that the sisters were of the original five vampires, said to have been created over 4000 years ago by powerful Atlantean sorcerers. The Atlanteans had no idea what they had created, and were not prepared for the strength and violence of the freshly-changed neophyte. After destroying their creators, and quite possibly the entire civilization, they fled from Atlantis and set the vampire plague upon the world.

The quintet eventually parted ways, but the sisters remained inseparable. They settled first on Crete. The Minoan civilization at the time adopted them as goddesses, worshipping their inhuman beauty and power. They lined themselves up to offer their blood as a sacrifice to the sisters' hunger.

The ancients played influential roles across the developing world. Every vampire created has been an indirect consequence of those original manufactured monsters, and it was known that those kissed by the venom of the ancients bore greater powers, better senses than those changed by a lesser generation.

It is assumed that when the Volturi brothers were changed in 1000 BC, it was one of the primordial males that did it. The ancients were not unintelligent, and their own increased senses had probably lured them to both their victims and their potential changelings, based on potential. The Voltureans showed great promise, and quickly began their quest for knowledge.

The burning of the Library of Alexandria in 478 BC was the turning point for the brothers. It was at that time they began building the coven that would eventually control the entire vamperial world. In an attempt to take Renata, then belonging to another of the originals, the library was set ablaze. Thousands of years of irreplaceable information were lost to the flames. Much of my own species' past was wiped away, which was the reason no one knew the whole truth about the beginnings.

As the Volturi grew in both power and strength, the wives made their way into what is present day Romania. Around 350 BC, the wives changed the first of the Romanian coven, Vladimir and his brother Stefan. It was said that these brothers were the first bitten by the women not as a source of sustenance, but for the explicit reason of being made immortal.

As humans, Vladimir and Stefan had consciously sought immortality. They obsessed over the capabilities of human blood. They just couldn't figure out how to make the formula work for them. During that time, the evils of the world stained it darkly. Humans tended to label the later decline in European advancement the "Dark Ages" but it truth, it happened centuries earlier, when humans existed side by side with an unfathomable array of nightmare creatures, and the earth was literally painted dark in gore. Aside from vampires, lycanthropes, trolls, and nefarious faeries existed next to mortals, preying upon them viciously. A mortal life was pitiful short, and the Romanian brothers spent theirs searching for the ancient wisdom of Atlantis, which might reveal some secret of how to attain an immortal existence. Vampires weren't really considered as anything more than an evil of the night. It hadn't occurred to either brother that the answer to their plight was the very terror they ran from on those dark, unforgiving evenings. They lived a bloody humanity, feeding on the flesh and blood of their own neighbors and kin, all in effort to achieve their desires.

The faint scent of human blood hit me. Had I not been thinking so hard, I might have been diverted in the direction of the lone hiker. It wouldn't have been the first time, but so engrossed in the legends of horrible murders, it hardly appealed. I continued my path to where herds of deer occasionally grazed.

Ironically, it was said the Romanians were furious with their change at first, but when their red eyes gazed upon the beautiful faces of the women who had stolen life from them, they were stunned into silence. From then on, the brothers stayed with their creators, and the wives settled for the first time in nearly 2000 years.

After only half a century, the Romanians, along with the power of the wives, assumed control of "civilized" vampire society. Control meant something different to them than it had for their successors, but it never was clear exactly what that was. Secrecy was not something the Romanians cared about. As their coven grew, so did their appetite, but it wasn't about _feeding_ to them. It was about _killing_. It was about blood, and immortality; about swelling their numbers, the succubi, and being the biggest and the best.

Meanwhile, the Volturi were also growing, adding worthy members as time progressed and replacing those that fared poorly amidst their ranks. They were a frightening force by their own right, but selective in the creation of neophytes. Their ultimate purpose was to feed. They moved from city to city, stealthily wiping through human communities and avoiding detection.

The two covens grew aware of each other as both strengthened, but maintained separate hunting grounds for centuries.

That wasn't to say that they weren't interested in one another. The Volturi brothers sent spies, but many of them came back with nothing of import—or didn't come back at all. Frustrated, the Volturi were distracted from the Romanians by a sudden surge in the creation of immortal children across the globe. Around the eleventh century, the epidemic of ruthless, tantrum-throwing, blood-thirsty toddlers forced them into action. It was from their own sense of self preservation they finally acted. They feared that the human population would be decimated in only a few short years, at the rate the young ones fed and destroyed.

I'd discovered that Felix's blond had come from one of the creators of an immortal child. Aro and Caius had finished her off personally.

That thought made me smirk. Then I recalled my family's close connection with the Denali coven and my amusement was gone, replaced by guilt at my calloused thoughts. Edward was often amused, aroused even, by my sometimes catty ways. But I didn't think he'd be too amused by my smugness over Tanya's past tragedies. Sighing, I pulled a leaf from a branch as I glided by, unconsciously shredding it and letting it scatter into the weeds along the path. The deer were quiet this afternoon—I wasn't picking up a single trail. I may have to turn back for the human.

It took a few decades, but eventually, after saving the world from (what the brothers believed) complete annihilation and single-handedly destroying immortal child and creator alike, the Volturi swallowed their pride and travelled to Romania with a white flag raised. Knowing the brothers the way I had, I suspected it was more with their noses scraping the ceiling in arrogance over their newly flaunted power, rather than in the humble and modest way it had been described.

The Volturi stayed with the Romanians for over 400 years, in peace. This was what I found most disturbing about the whole sordid past. Neither Aro nor Caius ever struck me as the types to stand idly by while someone else squandered control. But until the late fifteenth century, there was not one argument between the rival covens.

Then, history gets very sketchy, despite the dozens of living witnesses.

No one is sure what drove Vladimir into madness. Some claim that the insanity was always there. He had, after all, cannibalized fellow humans when he had been one. He'd lived his entire existence torturing anyone who seemed even the smallest threat, aside from the Volturi. Still, the behavior in 1476 seemed to fly way outside even his usual ruthless demeanor.

A gray day in late autumn, Vladimir impaled every single one of his coven members, aside from his brother, Stefan and the wives. While not fatal to a vampire, impaling would have been painful beyond words. It was impossible to remove the stake if your strength could find no purchase to hoist its weight upward. And with a twenty-foot-tall spike spearing one's chest, regeneration is impossible. Our flesh simply cannot heal around something that remains penetrating it.

Amidst Vladimir's insanity, the Volturi brothers took the opportunity to seize power by stealing the wives and burning the castle to the ground—with the Romanian coven still skewered inside. Aro always told how the screams of the Romanian brothers echoed through the dark forests of the Carpathians that night. So, it had been assumed, the entire coven had perished in the fire.

Aside from the fact the wives followed the Volturi without so much as a cry for their longtime companions, there hadn't seemed to be much mystery in the tale before now. The brothers had successfully vanquished thousands of enemies over the centuries they were in power. And toward the end, they hadn't even needed to leave the confines of Volterra to remain an ominous and malicious presence in the world.

This entire conflict happened a full century before my change, and by then, the Volturi were a well-respected tyranny and treated the "Romanian incident" cavalierly. In the following centuries, there hadn't been the slightest murmur of activity from that corner of the world. I had happily aided their path to total domination, with little interest in their past conquests. I had a greater fondness for torture and my own blossoming role among the Guard. It struck me now how foolish my ignorance had been. There were so many details lost with the brothers' demise that could never be recovered. Had I only known how invaluable the information would be to me now...

The sweet scent of the deer suddenly flooded my senses. My body shifted on a dime and I lunged in the direction where an animal lazily grazed on the early spring grasses, which were just beginning to push up from the frostbitten ground. I was on the poor unsuspecting creature before it had the chance to lift its head in alert, and I sunk my sharp teeth deep into the pulsing artery in its neck. I relished the warmth as its life slipped between my parted lips, down my burning throat. It served to quell the ache, but not extinguish the fire, as thirst still charred my throat with venom. It was always the case. It was never quite satisfying enough. Thinking of it made it harder, so I focused my thoughts on the rest of the story.

The Volturi ended up with a greater hold over the world than the Romanians ever dared hope for….until Alice came along and changed everything. She'd had a vision. It had spurred her to get captured to meet me. Because, she had said, I would fell the Volturi. I hadn't believed at first, actually scoffed at her despite an in-depth understanding of her gift of foresight. Then I went and tortured the hell out of Jasper for revenge.

I'd never make that mistake again.

So her newest vision, in combination with Alec's warning, had me feeling wary indeed. I sprinted through the thin foliage, noting in passing there were more buds of green than yesterday, signifying spring had arrived in the hills of Italy at last. The run was long, but it was good to be lost in myself for awhile. Sometimes it was the only way I could make it day to day. Even the most monotonous thing could not be done lightly, as everything I did or said publicly affected much more than myself. It was a heavy burden to bear, even with all the support I had behind me.

I fed on three more deer as soon as I found the herd, draining them each slowly, savoring the wild flavor. I honestly enjoyed animals, but the call of human blood was too much for me when I gave myself to my instincts. I just couldn't deny the allure. Luckily for me, today there was no poor, doomed human near my feasting. I had avoided the hiker earlier, so I enjoyed the warmth and strength in relative peace.

If only my mind would allow the same generosity. Now that I'd remembered the old stories, my mind swirled with them. There were so many questions that I had no means of answering. It dawned on me somewhere along the way that Carlisle and Felix both might have some answers, or at least a different perspective. But I wasn't sure it was wise to approach either with the rumblings in Romania.

Carlisle was, above all, Edward's best friend, his confidant in all things, and I imagined it would be hard to keep a secret of this magnitude from him. Felix had a harder time shielding his thoughts, and much less practice. I realized he would have to know eventually, but I needed to formulate a means to take care of the problem before telling them. It might not even be anything either, despite what Alice had seen. Her vision could mean something else entirely, though I doubted it. Ancients may or may not be running amuck in Transylvania, but I knew whatever it was, was huge. Alec's observation of the place—the dark clouds, rotting air and human disquiet—told me that much. It had been said before that the Romanian Ancients drew power from the very air around them (as well as shifted into bats, but there was no real evidence as to either being the case). Still, it seemed a bit too uncanny. Certainly, even the most unscrupulous vampire wouldn't have the means or strength to pull off such an elaborate hoax. So, the more I thought it over, the more I was sure they were back, and it was only a matter of time before they acted.

Just then my phone rang.

"Be—la?"

I recognized Edward's voice even through the static.

"Are-oo-?"

"Edward? I have a bad signal. I'm heading back now."

He tried to reply, but the reception finally failed completely and was disconnected. I was already on my feet, running back to my city, so I just pushed myself faster. There'd been urgency in Edward's tone that I could hear even through the static.

A few miles outside of town, when my phone signaled it had reception again, I was calling him back.

He sighed audibly as he answered. "Bella."

"Hey." I kept my own voice soft. "Is everything ok?"

"Alice just saw someone unexpected," he explained. "We don't know who, but I wanted to make sure you were safe."

I smiled at his concern. "Nobody usually tries to fuck with me," I joked.

Then, he was laughing too. "Well, I'd like to fuck with you. It seems I left some unfinished business that needs desperate attention."

"Why do you think I'm out here running? It isn't for my health," I teased, praying he wouldn't find out any of my secrets yet.

"Come home -" he started in the same playful way, but immediately cut off with a sharp snarl.

"Edward?" I was still running hard for Volterra, and he was silent a moment. "Edward!"

"You're not alone," he finally breathed out.

My feet skidded to a halt, and my eyes danced around the area, looking for someone hiding in the trees.

"Who?" I barely made a sound.

"I don't know." Now, Edward's voice sounded tense. He must be seeing a vision of Alice's, I determined.

"Is everything going to be ok?"

He answered after a moment's hesitation. "I'm on my way."

The line went dead and I realized he'd hung up. I spun in a slow deliberate circle, looking for the lurking stranger. Trees stretched on in every direction. The shadows flickered innocently with the breeze, but the deceptive stillness did nothing to diminish my growing sense of unease. I could feel the wrongness pressing in on me, taste it on my lips, but I could see no one. Edward believed I wasn't alone, but there was nothing. Not a scent, not an unnatural movement of the leaves, not a sound. I wanted to run, but, I had to remain strong. Pride dictated I must not back down.

"Show yourself." I demanded into the quiet air, and for a moment there was only silence.

A twig snapped to my left, and my eyes spun in that direction as my shield snapped away from my body with blinding speed. I hadn't even realized I'd been coiling in on myself, readying for the attack until I let my power slip, lashing out at whatever dared break the serenity of the last remaining sunlight. I leaped in the same instant, landing hard against the already fallen attacker.

Snorting, I pressed a hand to my mouth to stifle any further mirth, as a bemused set of eyes fell to mine.

"I thought we talked about control," Edward sighed, and reached over to rub an elbow.

"Well, you didn't have to sneak up on me," I scolded, dragging myself from his lap. "Do you make a habit of scaring innocent girls in the forest?"

I pretended to wipe dirt from my clothes as I watched his reaction. With crooked grin in place, my bronze haired beloved shot up to his feet and snaked his long arms around my waist, pulling me closer. He lifted my windblown hair from my neck and leaned, in teasing me with a delicate kiss.

"I'd hardly call you innocent," he muttered, lips against my flesh.

Before I totally swooned, I shoved him gently, all too aware of his chest muscles reacting under my touch. "What about my guest?" I wondered, vividly recalling that I hadn't felt alone a moment ago, and why I had lashed out at Edward.

He shrugged. "I never heard any thoughts in the vicinity."

His complete nonchalance calmed my ebbing unease. I slipped my award-winning, brilliant smile, dazzling him a bit with its brightness. When he looked properly disoriented, I whispered in a low and seductive purr. "I'll show you innocent."

Then, I turned and sprinted toward Volterra. The wind ripped through my hair, knotting the silken ends with its fresh caresses. The spring air was cool against my cheeks as I sliced through it, grinning like a fool. Edward's footsteps were gaining, but I was teasing him. I hadn't even begun to test his speed yet.

After awhile, our feet ran in the same rhythm as we paced each other. Edward's fingers laced into mine in a comfortably established way, and I deliberately slowed.

"So, you didn't see anyone out there?" he questioned.

I remembered how heavy the air had felt right before Edward crashed on the scene. I _had_ felt someone watching me. That's why my defenses were so quick to strike.

"Maybe he heard you coming," I teased, because it was easier than admitting I _had_ been scared. "Leave it to you to falter in your reticence."

Our banter quieted as we neared Volterra, and my mind worked desperately to wrap itself around a believable conclusion to explain away the disquiet I'd felt, in anticipation of an attack. It must boil down to stress, though I thought vampires to be largely incapable of such human frailties. But given Alec's message, Alice's recent vision, and my own bizarre neuroticism, it clearly pointed to some kind of nervous breakdown.

All this, on Saint Marcus Day, I thought grimly, adding that to my growing list of reasons I was losing my mind.

**A/N: First, if anyone's forgotten what Felix's special abilities are, shame on you. Check out chapter 2 of Changing Sides.**

**Then, review. This chapter took extra effort, so let me know what you thought....Then come visit my forum: http://twilighted(net) ?f=33&t=927&start=90**

**I post teasers and might even answer questions if anyone asks!  
**


	4. St Marcus Day

**As always, the wonderful Stephenie owns all the familiar Twilight characters. I just like to abuse them for my own fun.**

**Gondolier is my brilliant beta, who inspires so much....**

**Oh, for all the Hogwarts fans, I make a reference, albeit it small, so thanks JKR!**

**And lastly, thanks to my steady reviewers! I love you guys!**

**Chapter 3**

**St. Marcus Day**

Black and red flags with coordinating streamers proudly adorned every rooftop and streetlight in the city as we approached its high walls. I marveled at my own blasé ignorance when I'd left earlier. I'd exited underground and hadn't even noted the strange surplus of humans milling inside the city ready to celebrate, what they believed to be, the day Marcus of the Volturi lured the vampires from Volterra a thousand years ago. I let them believe as they wished, but it held a greater significance for me than an excuse to dress in gothic-inspired clothing and run around with plastic fangs hanging out my mouth. The strange thing was, even I wasn't fully aware of the implication to my existence other than he'd saved my life and granted me immortality. It was his venom running through my veins.

We paced the streets, our shoes harmonizing against the cobbles as we walked toward home. Humans parted around us, their subconscious thoughts pulled them from the path of stalking predators. Not that we were hunting them. In fact, as we walked hand in hand around the final corner, stupid grins stretched both our faces, and we probably looked exactly how we felt—like a couple of kids in love.

That's when I noticed a dark silhouette standing on the steps to our door. Hands were angled sharply on the hips, and a foot tapped quick and impatiently against the ground.

"You've kept me waiting," came a pint-sized snarl from the recognizable figure of Alice. She'd been dying for a chance to play dress up for years.

Her face was just coming from the shadows, but the low streetlights kept it bathed in a strange yellow glow that did little to hide her fury. Her eyes blazed black with anger. I'd laugh, but, to be completely honest, she scared me a bit. So with effort I kept the smile on my lips.

On my left, Edward still grinned easily, never properly dissuaded by his sister's rage in any situation. His hand tightened infinitesimally on mine.

"There was no one there," he spoke, answering a silent question from Alice.

Her shoulders relaxed visibly, but her narrowed eyes glinted as they remained locked on me.

*

My body was rigid as I looked over the sea of vampires dressed in their finery. They conversed in light tones and laughed cordially, but the tension between the guests was palpable. Vampires were not, as a general rule, comfortable being surrounded by others of their kind. Most of us were nomadic by nature and crowds tended to raise suspicions. I was not unlike them in this regard, but forced myself to remain rooted in place and appear as much at ease as the tiny anchor on my right.

My gown was as simple as it was lavish, but wasn't the source of my discomfort. Learning my tastes over the decade, Alice opted to clothe me in a dress of rich red silk. It draped from a pearled collar at my neck, flowing to the ground. It wasn't in the slightest constricting, and in fact was reminiscent of the attire of a Roman Goddess. It was quite splendid, but my trepidation to the party spoiled it.

Alice, as usual, donned her normal hyper-excited state, though this evening she seemed to tremble in her delight. Her midnight blue cocktail dress shivered with her, reflecting the light off the sparkling material. The entire affair was her doing, after all. And I had to hand it to my friend. It was a rather magnificent event.

In similar style to my dress, the banquet hall was wrapped in flowing white curtains, draped from every available surface. They cascaded from the high ceiling in soft waves like falling water. In fact, the entire ambiance had been inspired by my fountain, standing proudly at the heart of the city. It burst forth in a frothy swirl of cool water and pulsed back again, like a human heart feeding its body with life-sustaining blood. That fountain was the very center of my life here in Volterra. It represented my past and my future, and was the reason Alice used its significance in her theme.

There were a few dozen tables scattered around the room, lighting the room in the soft glow of candles strewn haphazardly on them. The flickering shadows added what Alice thought would be a romantic feel, but served to further unnerve me with its beauty. Bowls of soft white freesia and lavender adorned each table, though few guests sat anywhere long enough to notice the astute attention to details. Despite being uncomfortable, vampires were also cocky and self-centered, so the party goers mingled, fleshing out who might reveal a future threat, or gossip over who'd lost the most revenue in the failing American stock market, or who boasted the fastest car. Rosalie was bound to get into that predominantly male disagreement, and I had no doubt she'd win.

As I thought of her, I spied the glow of her golden halo from by the drink bar. Catching my eye, she smiled, her angelic face illuminated by the reflection from the silken tresses framing it. I offered a nod back, in no mood for any amusement, but knew she understood my gesture.

She knew how uncomfortable I felt; as I insisted she, instead of Alice, fix my hair for the evening. Evidently, I was incapable of handling it myself. The whole thing in the forest was daunting, staining my already dour mood with an edgy darkness, though I could see Edward didn't feel the same. Alice had picked up on my weariness, persuading me with none too subtle threats that I'd _appreciate_ the help. What could I really say to that? There was no stopping Alice when she got going. Just the lavishness of the party attested to that point. It had been meticulously planned, as both a remembrance of the man that had saved me from Aro's snapping jaws and a show of gratitude toward those who'd risked themselves in the effort to overthrow the Volturian tyranny.

Edward had yet to arrive at the festivities—festivities that even sported a full-service blood bar. Both common and the more exotic varieties of animals and humans alike were available for sample. Alice had pulled some heavy strings to acquire the donations, and against Carlisle's insistence not to stock any of the rarer blood types, as humans felt the shortage of donations worldwide. For once I was glad of Alice's desire to throw the biggest and best affairs.

"What a pleasant turnout," she was musing, voice light and giddy. It was the complete opposite of the tone she's used earlier with me.

"As you knew it would be," I reminded, thinking I should be mad about her earlier hissy fit, and if not that, then wrangling me into agreeing to this party in the first place.

Alice stepped so she was directly in my line of sight. Well, her hair was, anyway. And she was smirking. "You're going to have fun tonight, Isabella. You deserve it. Now stop wallowing in your morbid little mind and enjoy yourself."

I was about to tell her that without Edward here, fun was hardly to be expected. Then, there was the fact the air in here seemed unnecessarily heavy and thick, and everyone was staring at me as though I had a second head. Finally, I spied him through two of Alice's wiry spikes as he entered the room next to Jasper. I might have gasped, not that I'd admit it, but the man was a vision indeed.

His hair hung in the happy disarray it always did, but looked a bit glossier, as if he had attempted some sort of taming before giving in and dragging his slender fingers through it. His eyes, bright and sparkling a bit when they caught the light, scanned the reception area. A high white collar cradled his neck, fastened expertly in a crimson bowtie that I wasn't surprised to see matched the exact shade of the gown Alice had robed me in. Edward wore a simply-tailored black tux, jacket buttoned in a stiff fashion to match the rigidity of his attire. But he looked as smooth as Rose in her fashionable black strapless cocktail dress as she walked over to him, Emmett in tow. Emmett, ever the black sheep, stood out among his siblings, proudly strutting around in a silver mobster style suit with broad shoulders and small waist that gave a very triangular shape to his torso. And he had matching shoes. He reminded me of a disco ball.

Alice was still rambling on, but I was absorbed in Edward's facial expressions as he looked over his bear of a brother. Rosalie slapped Emmett's chest, gesturing with her other hand while her face looked disgusted. Emmett was completely unperturbed as I could only imagine Rose chastised his poor sense of style. Then he grinned, showing off a wide plastic smile with long, fanged canines. My amusement broke through a bit more and I think I actually snorted.

Alice, assuming I had been hanging on every word, took a step back, causing my attention to drop on her thoroughly affronted expression. Finally, I was smiling in earnest.

"I'm sorry, Alice." I apologized.

"You shouldn't joke about it, Bella. Despite your almighty power, you're still a target, and I for one - -"

"Must you really mix business with pleasure?" a silky voice interrupted from behind us.

Alice and I both turned to see Felix, catlike smirk across his lips. Alice looked irritated, but for the moment bit her tongue as Felix grabbed me into a quick, friendly hug. Maybe a bit too friendly, but it was always borderline when it came to Felix.

"You look fabulous," he whispered as I stepped away.

No longer hiding my smile, I looked him up and down. "You look like you've already had a good time tonight," I noted. He'd already lost his jacket, which was now slung over the shoulder of the blood red shirt he adorned. Black tie loosened and top buttons undone, he looked more than relaxed with just a hint of his muscular chest revealed.

"You've forgotten how much fun I am?" He feigned a look of hurt by grabbing his chest, but the antics were cut short as 'the growth' walked up to him, pressing her chest very possessively into his arm. Flanking her were, what I assumed, the other sisters of the Denali clan. The red tone to Tanya's hair was glaringly apparent when next to her sisters. One had the softly curled blond waves reminiscent of Rosalie's, although in a somewhat subdued shade, and the other's was pale and straight, the same shiny silver of a veela.

It seemed they were the only ones sampling the vegetarian varieties of blood offered by the blood bar, aside from the Cullens. Tanya and each of her sisters held a crystal flute of light red liquid, signifying a less satisfying mammalian species, but handed Felix a brandy glass of a darker fluid. He swirled and inhaled just as one would a fine wine.

Noticing my stare, Felix winked and raised his goblet at me. "To the strongest woman I know," he declared, oblivious to the icy look Tanya sent us both.

Her sisters seemed to have a bit more manners and raised their glasses with Felix, fixing their topaz eyes on me with distrustful stares, murmuring an echo. After he'd taken a long pull of the sweet smelling fluid, I reached forward, swiping it from his loosely-guarded grasp. I inhaled its scent.

"AB neg?"

Felix nodded, and Tanya looked slightly green.

I lifted it to my mouth.

"Get your own," he growled reaching out, but I sidestepped him and spilled the satisfying temptation down my throat in long gulps. It was stale, but warmed in some manner, so it went down smoothly. The natural staple cooled the ever-aching burn in my throat.

"I did," I smiled and winked back at Tanya. Alice was giggling on my right.

Edward came over at that moment, hand gliding up the length of my back as he stepped next to me. In my peripheral, I saw the icy glare he shot at Felix, only humorous because Felix remained completely at ease.

Then, my love leaned forward, hovering over in my goblet and inhaled deeply. When he looked up, his smile betrayed no trace of disgust as Tanya's had. His eyes shined with a happiness that had been absent since Alice's vision. I was glad to see him enjoying himself.

Strong fingers slid to the very base of my spine, finally coming to a rest at the top of the curve of my backside. In my ear, Edward whispered, "You look stunning."

Our friends were not so far that they didn't hear his words, and Tanya's eyes narrowed at me. I was not so subtle as the gentleman at my side, and let a wild snarl rip through my throat. She looked scandalized for an instant, but I smiled wickedly, baring my teeth. Felix, knowing me so well, took the hint and steered Tanya to the dance floor. She was lucky all I did was growl. I've been thirsting to bring that bitch to her knees.

As my cynicism threatened to take hold again, Edward kissed me, and none of them mattered anymore. I fell into him, parting my lips and tasting his tongue as it swept between them. When he pulled away, he said nothing, just looked into my eyes and stroked a thumb slowly across my cheek as if he might break me.

Edward stared for a moment, and then tore his eyes away, looking over my shoulder. He smiled again.

"Excuse me, love. I think I see an old friend." He said. "I'll bring you another drink."

Lips touched again, chaster than before, and he was gone. Alice and I watched as he retreated to the blood bar, where an older, gray haired gentleman was grinning at him. Their hands clasped together, and I looked away. Perhaps the party hadn't been too bad an idea after all. Edward was enjoying himself.

Then, the heaviness was back, and my eyes wandered over the nameless faces of the crowd. Everyone was looking. But no one was. Why couldn't I shake the feeling that someone was burning holes with the intensity of their gaze in my back?

Alice grabbed my hand tightly dragging my attention to her.

"Quit being so twitchy," she told me, and began weaving her way through the masses.

We made our way to where the Cullens stood. As we passed, I spied Carlisle deep in conversation with a tall vampire, whose back was facing us. Carlisle was engrossed in whatever the vampire saying, his face rapt like a child. Of course, on his never-ending quest for knowledge, Carlisle was readily amused.

We disregarded the faceless man in the charcoal suit and pretentious, late-Victorian top hat, and moved on.

Rosalie was still in her tirade.

"…looks like a complete moron," she ranted.

"Oh, I don't know," I cut over her. "It looks nice."

"Nice in 1929," the blonde sister continued to fume.

"Where'd Emmett go, anyway?" Alice asked.

Suddenly, two very oversized hands clenched around my throat.

"I vant to suck your blahd," came a very poor attempt at a joke, but I laughed when I turned my head to see Emmett's fanged mouth open and nearing my neck.

I slapped him with my shield, lightly, and he stood back and smirked.

"Cute, Em," I said, giving him the once over. "I particularly like the shoes."Close up they were a soft gray, slightly shiny with the delicate appearance of rubber.

He smiled brilliantly, dropping the plastic mouth piece into his open hand, along with a trail of venom, which he wiped in his pocket as he stowed the fangs for later.

"Like 'em?" He laughed, shuffling his feet to show off the shoes. "Alice designed a pair for you, too."

"They're heels, Bella," Alice asserted, though I'd had no doubt. What I was more curious about was why I now owned shoes that matched Emmett's.

As if understanding my curiosity, Rosalie sauntered over and placed a gentle hand on her husband's arm, despite her rash words a moment ago. "Oh, I wouldn't be caught dead in them," she said.

"Besides, it's something I share with you alone," Emmett told me suggestively, one of his heavy arms fell over my shoulder. "Can't let a good hunt go to waste."

I actually reached down to touch his shoe, still wondering. Once I felt the rubbery material, it all came crashing back. Shark. He had shoes made of Great White.

"Daring," I finally chuckled out. "I'm hurt I wasn't invited."

After we had a laugh Jasper sidled over to the group.

"Who's that with Carlisle?" he asked no one in particular.

No one answered, but my eyes fell back to Carlisle's position across the room. He was still enthralled with the conversation, but the other half of the intriguing dialoguer was blocked by masses of heads. All I could make out was the top of that odd black hat.

"Edward sure has an eye on him," Jasper continued after not receiving an answer.

My eyes scanned the room for my lover. I saw him stalking toward Carlisle and the other guest, his eyes fixed and narrowed with suspicion. I thought about stopping him, but I let him stride up to his father's companion, curious to see what would play out. But then I caught the furious—no, _wild_—gleam in Edward's eyes.

_What the hell?_

I moved quickly, pushing past my family to prevent a confrontation. But I was too late.

Without missing a beat, Edward reached back and threw a fast left hook, catching the stranger's chin and throwing his head back with a painful blow.

I slid to Edward's side in my wobbly heels and grabbed his elbow before he could take another swing. I stared up at his contorted face, my eyes wide with shock.

The black hat fell to the floor and rolled to my feet.

**A/N: The blood bar is not my own...I don't think...I'm pretty sure I read something like that in another fic, so if anyone knows which one it was, let me know so I can give the appropriate shout out! Add in: I've discovered the story I thieved the idea of the blood bar. Thanks to nofangsallowed and her brilliantly written Socially Awkward Vampires! She was totally cool about me stealing the idea, so go check out her story. It's an amazing story!  
**

**And check out Gondolier's story, Hydraulic 5. ****She is a thousand shades of awesome, so do ****yourself a favor, and read it!**


	5. Stranger

**All the wonderful Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyers....**

**Thanks for the reviews for last chapter! I hope this answers some of your burning questions, and makes you ask a bunch more.... **

**Special thanks to Gondolier, the most intelligent and creative beta I know...Her Twilight fanfic is 100% awesome! Hydraulic 5 by Gondolier...Go read it!**

**And to my Twilighted betas, I salute you ladies!**

**Chapter 4**

**Stranger**

I leaned over in a daze and picked the hat off the floor, brushing the soft velvet free of any clinging dust. I was shocked, to say the least. I'd seen Edward lose his temper before, but I'd never witnessed him attack anyone. It was completely out of character.

I walked slowly toward where Carlisle was standing, a furious look on his own face as he admonished his son.

"What were you thinking? You of all people should know better than that!" Frustration poured from Carlisle who looked on the verge of striking Edward himself. Esme walked up just as I did, worry crinkling her brow.

"Carlisle," she tried to soothe her mate.

"No, Esme," Edward told her while his eyes fell to me. "I shouldn't have behaved like that." After a lingering gaze, he shifted his eyes over to the man he'd just punched in the jaw. "I apologize," he told the stranger with a stiff formal tone. "It was childish to behave so rashly."

I followed Edward's look to the man in the dark gray suit. He had fine hair, black like coal that curled loosely to his shoulders. His thin lips were framed by a thin, dark mustache. His eyes were partially shielded by small circular, wire framed sunglasses, which sat near the end of his long, noble nose. He was smiling, but it was a look of mirth staining his countenance.

"Your hat, sir," I said, holding it out to him.

His eyes met mine.

They were the color of cloudy crimson, hinting at his age, but it wasn't the matter of his years that froze me in place, arm dangling the atrocious headwear. His eyes were boiling and frothing with an emotion so intense, just watching him experience it was taxing. And still, I could not look away, almost as I lost myself in the bloodied waters of his eyes. The rest of the world had faded into oblivion for those few moments and he reached out slowly, taking the hat I offered.

With a nod, and in the tenor of the gods, thick with a Slavic accent, he said, "Thank you."

His pallid hand reached forward, the fingers just brushing the back of the hand offering his hat. The touch was icy even to my own dead skin, revealing even more his years. As vampires aged, the skin grew ever chilled. That, and the clouding and filming of the pupils were the only true way to gage the age of the ageless.

That brush of his hand was all, but it was enough, and I gasped. My mind plunged into dark, frigid nothingness at the contact.

_My sight was hazy, dull. The man was smiling at me, eyes no longer clouded with the milk of age. These were bright, cunning eyes that dripped with dramatic youthful venom. I knew it was a smile for me alone. The same bone white fingers from real life threaded themselves into mine. A comfortable, familiar pressure, icy cold against searing hot. My own cheeks lifted into a mirror of his smile, my heartbeat fluttered into exaggerated pounding._

_With those garishly vibrant orbs, he gestured for me to look down. My mind reacted as I realized I was standing in the same spot I had in the previous memory—the same day Alice had her vision. My hands gripped the rail, but the devilish smile still stretched my face. _

_Hundreds of feet below were the same leafless trees, but they were fewer in number, sporadically placed. _

_Now, instead of heaving at the sight, I laughed._

_It wasn't __**my **__laugh, but it… was. The same distinctions, same undertone. My logic was screaming. There was reason to fear the dead forest he was raising, but I only laughed maliciously. _

It was then that the others swirled back into existence around us, reminding me I wasn't alone in this crowded room. Our eyes remained locked. Edward, a fierce scowl still planted on his face, moved to my side and wound his arm around my waist in his territorial display of the evening.

The stranger smiled at me, then Edward – the smile of an animal, wild and feral – before tearing his gaze away. "I would have thought any one under such prestigious tutelage might have better manners," he expressed to Carlisle.

Carlisle looked embarrassed. But it was Edward that answered.

"I'd appreciate you keeping your thoughts about my mother under control."

The dark stranger widened his eyes infinitesimally, allowing a look of surprise to slip through, but he seemed to understand the implication of Edward's words immediately.

"I can only assume it is this lovely woman of which you speak." While speaking, he turned and grabbed Esme's hand. In a gentlemanly fashion, he raised the back to his lips, and kissed it chastely. An electric current raced through my body at his actions, but unable to place the feeling, I pushed it deep into my stomach and swallowed hard. There was no reason for any kind of reaction.

Esme looked flattered, but Carlisle went from looking ashamed of Edward to narrowing his eyes, wondering what kind of thought could warrant such a reaction from his prodigy. The chilly look on his face didn't escape the notice of the stranger.

"You are a lucky man," he told Carlisle in a sincere and warm voice. "She is an exceptional beauty."

My former lover only nodded at the man he's been so rapt over a few moments ago.

"I hope this won't affect your consideration of my proposal, Carlisle," he said, pulling a small white card from his pocket, embossed in a shiny red lettering. Carlisle grabbed it before I could make out the name.

"I'll think on it," Carlisle assured him.

As he made to step out of the rough circle he'd found himself in, the foreigner's eyes captured mine again. It excited me in a way I'd never comfortably admit. They blazed deep, and it wasn't until I was only looking at the back of him, fixing the hat on top of his head, that I realized I was leaning forward.

Edward's hiss brought me back.

"I don't trust him."

"Regardless, your behavior was unacceptable," Carlisle shot back. "He meant no ill will toward myself or Esme."

His wife gratefully grabbed Carlisle's hand, her face somewhat distressed. Maybe I had been the only way to see how flattered she'd been at the unwanted attention.

"He was blocking me out, Carlisle. I couldn't see his mind until his…thoughts about Esme. Almost as if he was goading me with them. No, I don't trust him at all."

"I'm sure it wasn't intentional," Carlisle said quietly, not quite sure himself.

"Who was he?" I finally asked, pulling myself back into the conversation.

The air seemed to wrench from the room. Even the music dulled, sounding muffled against the ensuing silence as hundreds of eyes pulled to Carlisle. Aware of the audience, I stepped forward quickly.

"Perhaps somewhere more private, Carlisle," I whispered, and then to Edward when he made to follow, "We'll be back shortly."

Edward looked irritated, but sulked back to where his siblings had gathered around Esme. I was aware he'd only given in so easily because he'd be able to listen in on the conversation through Carlisle's thoughts. It didn't matter, anyway. Carlisle did not hide things from his family, though a bit more tact may be called for in this instance.

Carlisle followed me from the banquet hall to the golden gate of the elevators. My office was the obvious choice for privacy, as prying ears would be far below, enjoying the festivities. Venom pounded in my ears as the lift descended from the above. I wondered how much Carlisle knew about the man whose eyes nearly did me in.

Concern blazed in his features as the doors slid back into place behind us. Both our eyes flowed upward, as tended to happen in elevators, and I chuckled at Debussy playing over the speakers as we rose. It was Edward's favorite and appeared a whopping seven times in a fifteen-song loop. I wasn't a fan. The man had been horrid in real life, but what made my Edward happy made me ecstatic.

"Your hair looks different tonight," Carlisle commented on my loose curls. "It looks nice."

"Rosalie," was my way of explanation, to which he grinned.

"You've come a long way," a teasing tone taking his voice, infused with his light sarcasm.

""I know you did not just take a shot at my hair, Carlisle," I laughed. "I wasn't the one wearing the three foot powdered monstrosity on top of my head."

He looked scandalized. "It was only for a few months. Periwigs were the height of fashion then…"

"Louis XIV was a bald old fool, and his wigmaker was as nutty as a hatter. Besides, you've always had such beautiful hair," I admired, reaching to move a golden curl from his eyes.

I realized what I had done, but our reminiscing made the awkwardness acceptable and Carlisle smiled at me. I loved him very much. Not in the way I loved Edward, but he still held tight to a piece of my heart. He was aware of that bond, and it only served to strengthen our friendship that had started three centuries ago.

"And, still, your coiffure was horrendous."

We both laughed remembering what the height of style was when we'd met. I'd had what amounted to hair extensions woven on top of my head. At the time, women in Europe wore their hair reaching for the sky and piled in mounds of curls. But men had the short end of the fashion history stick during that era. Thanks to ol' Louis, it was considered elegant for a man of status to drown himself under heavy, hideous, powdered wigs that went well past their shoulders. The disease infested things were eventually ousted for more natural methods, but at the time Carlisle had come to Volterra, the fad was just beginning. I was secretly pleased that he'd been gone for the panniers. He would have never let that go.

"The bigger the better," I reminded him. "Remember baking your wig?"

This time he actually blanched at the memory. Personal hygiene standards during that time, and really well into the twentieth century, were horribly subpar. It was natural the good doctor would be sickened at his own uncleanliness in those filthy times. Most humans only bathed twice a year, in spring and fall. Admittedly, Carlisle and I had both practiced far better standards than that, but a single bath a week was unheard of. And in order to clean the huge male periwigs, they were sterilized by heat. Loaves of bread were hollowed, the wig placed inside, and then set in the oven to kill any unwanted vermin. Not the most hygienic of methods.

"You screamed like a little girl." I was laughing deep belly laughs and my hands wiped at my dry eyes.

When he'd pulled the wig from the still steamy bread, a tiny dust mite appeared on his hand. Catching sight of the miniscule creature, Carlisle threw his arms into the air and started screaming at the top of his lungs. I dare say I was on the floor rolling in the dirt, having seen the bug in question not come from the human haired wig, but skip down the sleeve of his jacket.

But, then Carlisle chuckled again.

"Ah yes, heat sterilization. Sadly, it was terribly ineffective; hence I only wore the stupid thing until we cleaned it that one time."

"Only because you burned it," I reminded.

Needless to say, the rest of his clothing and the fine white wig ended up back in the oven, smoldering until the entire house reeked of burnt leather and, slightly more overpowering, singed hair.

The elevator dinged again and the doors slid open. Once in my office, I seated myself behind my desk and looked over at Carlisle while he sank into the chair opposite. For a minute we sat in silence as the humor wore from our faces.

In complete seriousness I said, "Who was he?"

Carlisle produced the small white card from his pocket and handed it to me. The atrocities of the ancient legends came swirling back to mind, the ones I'd spent the better part of this morning pondering. The Romanians?

There, written in blood red ink was a name that sent a surge of venom into my mouth.

_Vladimir Tepes._

I was shocked, but miraculously held my hand steady as I handed back the card. "Do you think it was really him?"

"Yes. Why lie about that?"

It was my thought exactly. Why would anyone claim to be the most feared monster in history, in a hall full of powerful vampires, no less?

"What is he doing here?"

"Alice sent open invitations," Carlisle shrugged. "All vampires were invited."

I wasn't convinced and my suspicious mind went into overdrive.

I already had word of the disquiet in Romania. But this was strange. Why had the Romanians left their homeland, when they had been there since the beginning? There'd never been any tale told that they'd ventured farther than the Transylvanian territories.

And how in the hell did they hide the fact that they still existed for over five hundred years? Could the Volturi brothers have been truly sloppy with the takeover, or were the Romanians simply that brilliant?

There was a knock, interrupting my musings and Felix thrust his head inside, eyeing us both. "Was that who I think it was?" He asked, coming in and hovering next to Carlisle.

I nodded in response, filing away the fact he knew exactly who it was. "It appears so. But I'm curious as to what he wants with you, Carlisle."

Felix looked down at Carlisle as I did.

"Werewolves," Carlisle answered under our heavy glances.

"Werewolves are extinct. I had the pleasure of destroying the last beast myself." Felix looked cocky as he boasted, but Carlisle was unimpressed.

"You destroyed the Children of the Moon. This is something else." The acidity of his normally placid tone wasn't what surprised me.

"Another _species?_" Felix croaked. "Unbelievable."

Now Carlisle looked smug, his golden intelligence shining from his impressive white teeth. "Of course, they share little with true werewolves. I happen to know of two other concentrations of wolves, aside from whatever Vlad fears are in Romania."

Felix and I were stunned into silence. But something clicked in my mind.

"Nord?" I asked.

Carlisle smiled at me. "Yes, and another pack in Washington. It was why I warned you to stay away from the city in Greenland."

I remembered his warning when I had ended up with them in the frozen tundra of the North. I had nearly brought myself face to face with these creatures unknowingly. I remembered the scent of something so strong, it singed my nose as I wandered toward the arctic city. A shiver ran up my spine.

"Ok," I tried to pull myself back to logical thinking after Carlisle's admission stopped it short for a moment. "You can't go, obviously."

"There's no danger. I've dealt with these shape-shifters before" Carlisle protested.

"Regardless," I pushed in my authoritative tone. "Though I doubt they are _safe, _that isn't my concern. From what we know of Vladimir and Stefan Tepes, _they _are the real danger."

"They _impaled _their entire coven, and let them burn" Felix spat in agreement.

"But, if this really _is _Vlad Tepes, how did he escape?" I wondered. "I thought they all perished."

"That's not the matter at hand," Carlisle interjected.

"You're right. We've got a problem." I began planning aloud. Carlisle and Felix listened in silence. "Whatever is happening in Romania is true. We'll have to go there. We'll have to get Alec out. We can use the guise of the werewolves to go…"

"What does _Alec_ have to do with it?" After all these years, Felix still bore ill will to the cherub-faced vampire that attacked me in his grief.

I was not unaware of the way both sets of eyes sank into me. Red and gold. How regal, but I could meet neither pair.

"He was on…other business when he stumbled across some interesting happenings in Romania," I confessed.

"And where is Alec now?" Carlisle asked.

There wasn't an answer, because I didn't know.

"I need to think this over." I finally told them. "We'll meet back at dusk tomorrow. In the meantime, Carlisle, prepare to take an extended research expedition. And, Felix, I'll need you with me on this one."

They both nodded, Carlisle looking wearier than when he entered, and Felix already making his mental plans to leave Volterra. I sighed heavily.

They left me alone in my office and I sunk back into my chair, just trying to process what was happening. I tried to let my muscles relax away the tension building up since the altercation downstairs.

To think, only a few days ago, my biggest worry was what color planters to buy for the city walls and how stupid and vapid I found Felix's new toy.

I inhaled deeply tasting each of my ex lover's scents on my tongue. But my mind drifted toward Edward. I had to face him, as he had undoubtedly listened in to the conversation. I'm sure he'd have something to say about it.

**A/N: I hope you liked the Carlisle Bella interaction....*wipes drool from corner of mouth* I love Carlisle...**

**Reviews are wonderful, so don't forget (Not even an "update soon" for last chapter *wipes tear* )...But the story is on the upswing now...We'll soon find ourselves in the thick of things........I promised dark and seductive, and that you'll have....  
**


	6. Nightmare

**SM owns all things Twilight!**

**Happy Easter Twi-hards!**

**Chapter 5**

**Nightmare**

The hour was late, but the humans still milled around the streets, robed in dark cloaks reminiscent of the not so distant past. Though these figures hardly bore the same domineering presence as the first to don the black cloaks of the Volturi, the sight of them relishing in what makes us monsters grated on my ever souring mood. It was harmless fun, but at that moment it didn't matter. Their heartbeats were sluggish from alcohol, their wits slow. It was perfect hunting conditions inside the walls of Volterra, so it took every ounce of my strength to keep my eye trained on the road directly in front of me, holding my breath to withstand any additional temptation.

My feet hit the pavement in steady, even strides as I willed myself forward.

Then, I heard him.

Edward's music greeted me blocks away, wrapping me in a warm embrace, and guiding me home. I pushed away the miserable feelings that had rolled over me and floated in on his musical masterpiece. I slid into the room without distracting him from playing at all. He was completely absorbed in what he was playing.

I stood by the open door and listened to my lover's fingers seduce the ivory keys on his piano into a moving piece of music that captured my spirit more perfectly than I could believe. The notes wove in and out, at times low and loving, and others loud, angry. _Magnificent_. I was completely captivated by it… by Edward gracefully perched on the edge of the bench, skimming his fingers, lightly, roughly, sensuously over the keys…by the music itself.

The notes spilled from the instrument, building, growing. My ears beat with the demanding, climbing intensity, and Edward bent low over the keys, eyes shut, no emotion exposed beneath a calm mask. It didn't fit the magical way he seemed to float over the keys.

It was perfect.

He hit the last note, a dark chord that hung echoing and reverberating in the air. The tone was more than uncomfortable; it felt demoralizing, like it drew the very life from me as its ominous tone filtered into nothing.

Fingers pressed hard into the keys he had struck with passionate force, Edward was still as stone. I didn't dare move, didn't dare breathe, afraid of the significance of that single note. It had encompassed so many feelings, I hardly knew what to expect from my lover's mouth.

Endlessly long silent moments passed. The music had long since faded and we both remained unmoving. I was sure he was aware of my presence by now. His scent was thick on my tongue, though I still refrained from inhaling and tasting its sweet flavor thoroughly. Yet he didn't acknowledge me in any way.

Ill at ease didn't even begin to describe the heated feeling that began pricking at my toes and travelled throughout my body in a second, until I was embarrassingly warm standing by the open door. Why wasn't he looking at me? Why didn't I want him to? I wanted to be angry, to be infuriated by the way he'd made me feel with that sad note. What the hell was that about anyway? But I couldn't find it in myself to gather the strength to be mad at him. I was strangely drained.

Finally, slowly, Edward slid his fingers from the keys and stood.

"I don't want to talk right now, Isabella."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped back, my voice finally provoking the emotion I wanted to hurl at him.

When he finally lifted his lids, I wished he hadn't. The glare he fixed on me was unadulterated venom.

"Who is he to you?"

Slightly stunned, I didn't doubt what he meant.

"I've never met him before tonight." It sounded lame even to my ears.

Edward scoffed. My eternity actually _scoffed_ at me. It did nothing to brighten my mood.

"You know my position –"

"This is not about who you are!" he shouted, effectively cutting my statement short.

"Then what is it about?" Though I already knew, and it had everything to do with who I was.

"You are not going to Romania."

"Excuse me?" The red haze of my dangerous fury pushed in at the edge of my sight. I was just barely maintaining some sort of control, and Edward was pushing me as he repeated himself.

"You are _not _going to Romania."

"Let me tell you something, Edward," I began with a sharp edge to my words.

"No. Let me tell _you_ something. You think you rule the world –" I had to bite my lip to stop from reminding him I did. "– But I have a say in your life too. I have more at stake in you than anyone, damn it, and I can protect you, too. You're not as high and mighty as you think. If you go to Romania with Carlisle and that _madman_, what do you think will happen? Do you even understand what Alice saw? Do you understand how serious this is?"

"No," I icily cut through his words. "You keep secrets of your own." It may have meant more than I intended to imply, and Edward astutely picked up on that.

"Secrets? Like seeing you speared, dying, burning!?" His voice hit a rage I hadn't known its musical quality capable of. "You think I – any of us – can sit by and watch you sacrifice yourself? And for what? To keep us safe? To keep _me_ safe? That's bullshit, Bella. I am not a child."

The sound that escaped my mouth was unintentional, but the wickedness of my mirth did obvious damage to my love as I spoke.

"You are a child in the ways that matter, Edward. Have you ever defeated another of our kind? Have you crushed someone with your bare hands, love? Do you even think yourself capable – "

"I can kill a monster," he countered. His voice was flat, dull again, but I didn't think for one second this was over. And with my own furious rage still swirling in my vision, I wasn't about to back down.

"You wouldn't know a monster if it bit you on the ass." Not a brilliant remark, I'll admit, but Edward let it slide. "You are barely aware of the evils of this world. Why wouldn't I want you to keep that blissful naivety? Why wouldn't I protect you from those horrors? I think it's you who doesn't understand the seriousness of what is at stake."

Edward winced a little, yet stood firm, and blank. But I wasn't deterred by the faux calm he had worked through his features. It was too out of place on him. Then I saw him shake slightly and I realized exactly how hard it was for him to retain even that small bit of control over his anger. He remained silent. A sleeping volcano ready to erupt.

"I know you are strong, Edward." My voice took on a soothing quality, as I sensed he was close to a devastating explosion. "I understand you would be far more useful than many of the others in my guard, but in this instance, Edward, you are terribly inexperienced." I closed my eyes and dropped my hands loosely to my sides. The next admission felt like defeat. "_I _am miserably inexperienced. Trust me when I tell you I have the utmost confidence in you, but the Romanians are another matter."

He laughed. It was a cold, desperate sound, and I nearly flinched away as if he struck me. He began walking forward with heavy steps.

"The problem is, Bella, I saw exactly the kind of confidence you had in _him_."

Without further explanation, Edward stalked past me, his arm brushing mine in his haste, and he was gone. The door slammed closed with a crack behind me. Stunned at what had just happened, I stood still as stone, demanding that my brain to make sense of it.

His words made no sense. The fight made no sense.

Fuck! This entire week made no sense.

Eventually I wandered upstairs. Standing in front of the mirror, I assessed myself. Despite being draped in the regal gown, I looked ghastly. My own dead pallor was chalky and tight against my cheeks. Dark purple bruises ringed my eyes, regardless of having feasted a few hours ago. Stress was certainly doing a number on me.

With a weary, graceful movement, I reached behind my neck to release the pearled collar. The smooth fabric slid from my body, flowing like a pool of blood to my feet. The combination of luxurious red fabric and the still steaming fog of my anger engulfed my senses until I was no longer in my room at all. No longer in Volterra. No longer anywhere I knew…

_The Romanian stood at my side, our hands entwined in a familiar way. We were laughing, a maniacal amusement spewing from deep within. Whatever was so amusing was a joke that only we shared. I knew I wasn't happy. The emotions conflicted in my mind, but I couldn't stop the mirth. My body leaned against his strong arm, and his muscles rippled with each breath he forced. There was no fear, no sense of doom, only love._

_I loved him._

_We were in a small room, ornamented in medieval décor. Walls hung with rich tapestries, set with beautiful vibrant color, while the floor was covered in thick animal pelts and soft fabrics. The sensation was soft and comfortable against my bare feet, and I dug my toes into it._

_I was aware that the man's skin felt cold next to mine, but my own flesh was hot – too hot – and the contrast delighted my entire body. Those fierce red eyes burned into mine. My breathing caught in my throat. _

_Lifting his hand to my lips, the stranger extended two long fingers. I tasted them. The flavor of fresh human blood assaulted me, and I took them into my mouth in a long, sensual stroke. The man's eyes drooped in pleasure, and I licked them clean of the warm liquid. _

_As he moved his fingers from my wanton mouth, he leaned forward, eyes still wickedly ablaze with humor. An icy tongue traced the line from my chin to the corner of my lips, and I understood he was grooming me in a similar manner to the way I'd done to him. There was blood running from my mouth, and I purred as he cleaned it from me._

_My heart beat stronger, aroused by the intimate movement, but logic screamed at me that something was off. Humans didn't drink blood with zeal as I had. My eyes fell downward. _

_Beneath our feet lay the source our amusement._

_Then the floor fell away and I was screaming, falling into the deep red pool on the floor. The Romanian's lips lowered to mine, even as I descended, but I could still taste death fresh on him. My lips found his as the violent red liquid swallowed me. _

_I kissed him with a passion I'd never known. I desired this man, even as my mind screamed at the horror underfoot._

Pain shot through my knees as it hit the ground hard. My body - ashamed, disgusted, confused - slumped over until my forehead touched the ground. Deep, shuddering breaths burned my lungs until a sob escaped.

It was there, sometime later, that Jasper found me, still moaning and crying tearlessly onto the floor. I was trying not to think of it. I was trying to erase it from my infallible mind, but the vision stuck fast.

I still choked on the misery, unwinding my arms from the tight grasp around my middle and throwing them around Jasper's strong shoulders.

When I had looked down in my – I guess I would call that a _nightmare _– I realized my human senses mistook the velvety feel around my feet for furs and rugs. It wasn't.

There, slowly lapping against our feet in sluggish waves, was an entire pool of blood. But that wasn't what had yanked the cries from my throat. The wastefulness that submerged my feet aroused me in ways I'd never felt before. It was the magnitude of death drawn from my core, causing an unfamiliar ache between my thighs.

It was then, I lost it. My mind exploded with disgust as sobs wracked through my chest, my head hung low. It was sickening, my response to both the stranger and the gore that he laid me in. I felt filthy, though my rational side screamed that it wasn't real.

It felt real. Each caress of his fingers, lap of his tongue, even the warmth of the liquid against my bare skin attested to that. In my mind he had ignited a desire so dark, so forbidden, that there had been no room left to think of Edward.

That is why I cried now. It wasn't because I had witnessed doing these things to someone I had laid eyes on for the first time today. It was because I hadn't paused to think of my love. I had been consumed for those few horrifying minutes with nothing but burning passion for the dark Romanian prince.

And somehow, I knew that Edward had painfully endured something like what I had experienced. And that was why he'd been so enraged.

But why? I didn't know that man. Even if what I'd just gone through said differently. I only had one true memory of Vladamir Tepes and that was from meeting him at the banquet. Somehow, these other curious memories I'd had seemed false, but true enough to rouse a desire in me, and a reaction from Edward I didn't even fathom him capable. Whatever else, the man evoked passionate emotions in us, and that left a queasy feeling floating in my stomach.

**A/N: Review! You know you want to!**


	7. Fissure

**I never own anything but my twisted mind...**

**Chapter 6**

**Fissure**

I watched him as the soft afternoon sunlight fell on his face. It sparkled delicately, making him impossibly more beautiful than usual. The black circles beneath his eyes mirrored mine, and told me how hurt he'd been. I was ashamed I'd let it build up to that point, but I foolishly disregarded how my actions might be perceived. I never meant to belittle Edward. He was my entire world. I just wanted him protected, safe. In return, I had to accept that he saw me the same way, and wanted to do those things for me as well. It was difficult for my stubborn mind to accept, but I eventually did. I reflected over the earlier turmoil that had marred our day.

Jasper had talked me down after Edward stormed out in a rage. He came in, chuckling and smiling broadly. "I wondered when he was going to snap. A little sooner than I anticipated, but I expect Emmett with be pleased."

I cocked an eyebrow despite my dark mood.

"A bet," he answered, waving off any more questions eagerly. His jovial tone hit me, but I had shrugged away until Jasper threw his arms around my shoulders.

"Come on, Bells," he urged softly. "This is nothing. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Nothing?" I demanded. "Edward walked out on me and that's _nothing_?"

He laughed into my hair, and lifted me, until I was hovering inches from the ground. Pulling his face away, my friend looked me in the eyes.

"Nothing," he repeated with confidence "One time he lost in a video game to Emmett and smashed the big screen. And another time, he turned over Esme's antique curio cabinet full of Faberge eggs. You thought you've seen pissed? You should have seen Esme's face…"

He was able to talk me down with his anecdotes. Jasper truly considered it lucky none of our sparse furnishings met their untimely demise.

Edward wasn't gone long, and he returned to find my spirits lifted by the good grace of his brother. As he discretely bid us farewell, Jasper paused at Edward and laid a soft hand on his shoulder. They were silent, and then Jasper was gone.

My love stood where I had, in front of the door. He looked as ashamed as I felt, but his eyes boiled with freshly fed vigor. I wanted to say those pitifully inadequate words and beg for his forgiveness. I owed him a thousand apologies for every time I'd undermined him. But my lips stayed tightly sealed. I breathed in and out through my nose, waiting for him to make the first move. He'd never know how intimidating he was to me—with a single word, he could completely obliterate my heart.

Edward remained silent, but stalked toward me. His prowess demanded my attention, and I couldn't bring myself to look away. Each muscle worked together under his clothes, propelling him forward. When he was no more that a handbreadth away, he stopped, still as stone.

Golden pools melted into mine as he reached to cradle my face in his hands. For a long moment, we both breathed heavily, like we'd never tasted the air before. Emotion was still rampant in him, but it was no longer the rage that had blinded him earlier. The only thing I saw swirling there was love.

And it made me crumble.

With slight pressure, I leaned into his hand until it was flush against my cold skin. I raised a slow finger to his neck, tracing it down his shirt. There were a thousand words we should speak, but no sound escape either pair of lips until he leaned his into mine.

The kiss was fiery. It burned through my lips, igniting passion on its way to my toes. His lips brushed across my mouth and down my neck, his arms pulling me closer. And I knew I should say something, but nothing aside from soft intakes of breath escaped my lips as his danced along my collar bone. Edward's hands were confident as they roved my body. He was everywhere at once, and I was melting into the heat of my arousal, pushing back against him, burying my face in the base of his neck. When I nipped at the sensitive dip there, he growled, and dragged a thumbnail along the soft ridges of my spine. Venom pooled as he elicited an aroused shiver from my body.

Then, hands like vices circled my elbows and I was pushed an arm's length away from the object of my desire.

He slid a powerful gaze over my heaving chest, down my stomach, to the center of the blazing throb inside my body. It was shocking, exciting. I wanted more than his eyes caressing my body, but Edward made no move to cement himself against me. Arousal turned to unease as we stood in silence. Why wouldn't he say anything? Why wouldn't he _do _anything? God, what was he—

And then I realized what he was waiting for. So I opened my mouth. It was time for those apologies to spill out and wash away everything I had done to hurt him. But I was still struck dumb. I was afraid I would say the wrong things, that my voice would do no good, that there wasn't anything I _could _say to undo a decade of cruel emasculation…

Now, as I kept my eyes trained to him, body bathed in the soft glow of the afternoon, I knew there hadn't been words to bridge the rifts I'd forced between us. There wouldn't have been anything I could say, so I had been right to stay silent during those tense moments.

It was Edward who had finally spoken. His words were both expected and shocking in the same instant.

"I'm going to Romania."

My eyes widened. I couldn't hide my feelings, but I bit on my tongue to prevent myself from telling him he couldn't go, that it was too dangerous.

He looked at me, as if anticipating every thought churning in my mind. He registered a kind of understanding that almost made me think he _could_ hear what I was thinking. He knew me too well, this man.

"It is too dangerous for you to go." His voice was soft, calm. "And it is too dangerous to ignore it altogether. Please believe in me, love. Trust me to be strong and fearless. I am not afraid," he whispered. He was close enough to taste his essence on my lips. I could feel the vibrant energy seeping from his body. He leaned in until his chest brushed mine, mouth nearly on mine.

"I am only afraid of losing you." He'd said it, that very fear I hadn't been able to voice—my greatest fear was his, as well. And then he was on me, in me, devouring me with love. Fingers and arms tangled and twisted together until we were completely surrounding each other.

I loved this man. I loved every slide of his gentle fingers and the warm breath as it penetrated every pore. And wrapped in him as I was, I knew I could get lost and never find my way back, and that I would be happy. I could spend my existence enveloped in Edward.

He made love to me. Slow, soft, gentle. The fury of earlier only served to heighten our senses as he played his music on my body, eliciting each reaction, each desire and molding it, coaxing it from my depths. When I came, I sighed his name breathlessly against his ear as the knots of orgasm untied themselves from my center. Waves of release crashed over him until they milked his own tension away.

Safely trapped in his body's embrace, I panted into his naked flesh, peppering his skin with light kisses. When he finally rolled off of me, leaving the familiar ache of emptiness between my legs, his smile was as bright as the noonday sun.

And I couldn't argue with him about Romania. I'd given into his demands, and it was right to do so. Still, the thought left a sour taste behind. I didn't like the way it mingled with Edward's flavor, but it was done. In an effort to protect me, shield me from the horrible things Alice had seen, Edward would take my place.

* * *

That evening's meeting had been larger than I anticipated, but my office had never seemed less crowded. Light conversation murmured through the room and weighed heavily on everyone's shoulders. Even as Alice fawned over Tanya's stunning new necklace - shiny pieces for the new toy – she was nervously clicking her nails together. And the rarely intimidated Emmett drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair anxiously. The gravity of the situation was daunting.

Every one of us understood that we were separating. And how long we'd remain apart was unknown.

It was quickly decided that Alice, Emmett and Rosalie would accompany Carlisle and Edward to Romania. Jasper and Felix would remain in Volterra with Esme and myself. The dimwitted blond twit would thankfully be returning to Alaska with the rest of her coven. Volterra offered the greatest protection I'd find, and Carlisle seemed just as adamant that his mate remain behind these walls. She was perfectly stoic as he said as much. The love and devotion between them was hard to deny; his face crumpled in pain at the thought of travelling without her. Jasper was somewhat the same way, but had reluctantly agreed that Alice should go, for no other reason than to maintain the visions that my shield frequently disrupted. No one could deny her ability would prove to be invaluable in the upcoming weeks. We all needed her third eye open and watching, and the only way to do that was get her far away from me. Jasper, tactically speaking, saw the necessity, but was no less thrilled than Esme or I by the aspect of sending his mate to an unknown land full of ancient horrors.

Not like Emmett and Rosalie. They both wanted in as soon as the subject was approached. But they got their giggles from facing fear head on. I couldn't deny them that pleasure, no matter how ill-placed it was. It didn't hurt to have the extra brawn along. And Rosalie's cunning knew no equal.

But, after all was said and done, I felt no less tense about Edward leaving my side, though I knew that the five of them would stand as a united front against any impending trial. And that gave me enough confidence to acquiesce and agree to the parting.

Over the next several days, my family made their final preparations. They planned to leave a week after the Saint Marcus festivities. Edward poured over any information he could find about the land, the people, and the legends of Romanian coven. The history was scarce, but it was what he could do.

I quietly watched him work, hunched over the table, until I could take the enduring silence no more. It had been tense between us the last week, both walking on eggshells to avoid another explosion. It felt like neither of us had truly moved past it, while the world around us zoomed on. I couldn't let this continue, especially since soon, he would be hundreds of miles away from me.

I sat next to him. Without lifting his gaze from the worn pages of the book on his lap, Edward's fingers laced into mine. And I squeezed them, to comfort him, to comfort myself. I would be strong enough to endure for his benefit.

"You need several days of good hunting before you leave. Perhaps you should leave the books, for now," I said softly.

For a moment he didn't answer, maybe finishing a passage, though his eyes were still. "Be sure to take my mother out while Carlisle's gone, maybe an art gallery or two. She'll be lonely." He smiled gently, knowing that I would be lonely too. He turned back to his work.

And finally, when he snapped the book shut with a puff of dust escaping the yellowed pages, he looked to me again. There was no fear behind the dark topaz pools. There was only confusion and daring, and perhaps a touch of naivety, though it might pass as stubbornness. I knew too well what an implanted thought could do to your brain. Edward wanted concrete answers about Vlad Tepes, but he wouldn't find them in books.

I'd spent the last week focused on Edward, on my departing family, but the strange Romanian and the vibrant displaced memory of him lingered at the back of my mind, threatening me with the unknown. Throughout everything, I decided to keep those sanity lapses to myself. I dared not think of Edward's reaction if I made it clear I was losing my mind. He needed to remain focused on his mission if he was to come back to me unscathed.

Now, with the hours together drawing to a close, I only had thoughts for the foolishly brave and unerringly loving man next to me. The warm familiarity of our touching palms gave me more than courage. It gave me hope, and I wanted to absorb as much of it as I could in our last minutes.

"I love you, Edward Cullen," I whispered, leaning toward him.

He brought our hands to his lips and kissed each of my knuckles. "You are my life," he said simply, as he had a thousand times, but this weighed infinitely more. It didn't hurt to have him cement his love over and over. Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer. "I love you, Bella." He sighed into my ear. "I love you and trust you, and I'll come back. I can't be without you."

The sincerity of his words and the way he held me so closely left no doubt that he meant it. The embrace eventually led to our being completely exposed, bared and open to each other, and we made love over and over as I tried to assure him of my undying love for him, and his for me.

It was beautiful, the slow way his body loved mine. It was erotic and sensual beyond anything we'd shared prior, no matter how many countless times we'd done the act. But this was different. Stronger on the cosmic scale of our own little world, as our mountains moved and our rivers bended with the intensity of our lovemaking.

When it was done he smiled at me, poorly masking his own misery, and kissed me with a raw passion that echoed his deep thrusting moments ago. Then he was dressed and gone. Leaving me alone and naked in his wake. It felt stingingly like rejection, though it had been anything but.

Realization swept me up in an unforgiving embrace of desolation, and I could only lie still as the shadows of darkness crept up the bare walls. They fell on me, wrapping me in feelings I had never wanted to experience again. Edward left me, necessary as it was, and he'd taken the best pieces of me with him.

Volterra had never felt so cold.

**A/N: So, this is the end of the beginning, where the story will begin to take off...**

**I need to send about a million thank yous to Gondolier, my beta extraordinaire. She is so wonderful, you really have no idea. Check out her fic Hydraulic Level 5. It is so good!**

**And to my friend Quirky Alice, its good to have you back!**

**To everyone else, thanks for reading, and please leave a review! **

**Now, on to the forests of Transylvania..........  
**


	8. Edward Cullen, Part 1

**Stephenie Meyers owns all things Twilight.**

**Of course, I must send a special thank you to the beta-supreme, Gondolier, whose mad skills make my writing readable. **

**And my dear friend Camilla from Twilighted helped with the bit of Italian I plugged in, so a big shout out to her! **

**And thanks to those few of you who have reviewed. I must say, I think the rest of you can do better, but perhaps I expect too much?  
**

**Edward Cullen**

**Day 1**

Time slipped into nothing as we made our way eastward. I was consciously aware of the seconds ticking away on my wristwatch, but it seemed sporadic, as my heart would be beating if it still pounded in my chest. It felt like time had stopped to have real meaning. It was no longer as logical as it was endless.

It was only endless.

The last time I had been away from her, I had nearly fallen apart. Even now I felt on the brink, though our relationship was cemented, where as before, it hadn't even begun. But knowing that, _accepting _that, made it no easier to leave. And certainly not having seen the stranger's thoughts.

If I had been anything before I met Bella, I no longer understood what. Because of the love she freely gave me, I was a man – a man in ways that a few short years ago, I had only read about. I owed everything I was, everything I would be, to my angel. My Bella.

She was as candid as she was calculating; understanding as much as stubborn; forgiving as much as ruthless. And I had to push her away to keep her safe. I had to. She accepted what I had done, what I had said, but it still made it no less difficult to bear.

Emmett's fingers drummed on our shared armrest. His hulking frame seemed to spill over his space, and into mine, leaving me feeling claustrophobic on top of the wretched guilt. And he wasn't even encroaching, not really. He was just so huge that it was like a shadow blocking out the sun.

Frustrated and not entirely because of his size, I dug my elbow into his ribs.

"Hey!"

I ignored his irritation and leaned to the right. My head fell into my hand, and my whole body sagged against the armrest I wasn't sharing with the Hulk. With eyes shut tight, Bella's face swam into my mind. Her face was glowing behind the bright smile sliding across her red lips. It touched her fiery eyes with sunshine, illuminating her entire countenance with a soft radiance. This was why I thought her an angel, despite the blood-colored eyes. The glow of her beauty was heavenly; pure and lovely, and anything but innocent.

And, fool that I was, I had left her to be crowded into this train car, on my way to a place that has haunted millions of nightmares for a millennia. And it wasn't only human minds these disturbing thoughts infected. Even my own kind could not help but shudder away from the dark lands around the high Eastern European Mountains. Even Emmett, strong intrepid Emmett, looked ill at ease and tense as the train pulled us into a darkening landscape.

"I think we need to discuss what to do," Carlisle broke through my thoughts.

"I want to meet me some wolves!" Emmett growled from my left, grinding a fist into his other palm.

I might have thrown some sarcastic comment at him, but his wife beat me to it.

She rolled her eyes. "You'll fit right in."

"The lycanthropes are the least of our worries," Carlisle interrupted whatever nonsense Emmett was on the brink of firing back. "If this man is who he claims to be-"

"He is," Alice voiced quietly next to Carlisle. Her face was pale and gaunt over her thin cheekbones. She looked worried. And scared. There hadn't been any more visions, no matter how desperately she looked. At one point she saw Esme dusting furniture in Volterra, but that was it. And I was only slightly relieved that the vision of Bella being … _slaughtered_ …I choked on the thought, my mind not allowing it to play out again.

At least that was gone now. Even though there had been only blackness since we'd boarded the damn train in Roma, which left me feeling as anxious as my sister.

Carlisle was going on, despite the fact my mind had fallen back into the vicious nightmare.

"Right. Like I was saying, we have other things to focus on."

"Wait," Emmett said, leaning forward, gaze fixed on Carlisle. "Are you telling me there won't be any werewolves?"

Carlisle stared at the man he considered a son with a look of soft patience. It was something I had never been able to afford the brusque manner Emmett had, but the man we both called father had infinite understanding. And, as the very air seemed to thicken around us, hardening in our lungs, we needed it more than ever.

The looks on the others' faces seemed to mirror my thoughts. We all looked to him as more than a mentor. And travelling into the unknown, blind even with Alice's gift of precognition, he fluidly pulled himself into the position we needed of him.

"There may be wolves, but we cannot take anything Vladimir says at face value."

"No," I agreed. "He can't be trusted."

I remembered all too well the disgusting things he thought of Esme, but that in itself hadn't been enough for me to throw my fist in his face.

_Vladimir ran his fingers over the smooth skin of Esme's leg, as her head fell back, hiding the look of ecstasy that made my throat taste bitter. He leaned forward, delicately, like he had done it a thousand times before. But it was different than experience. He seemed to know her on an intimate level that surpassed the realm of pure fantasy. _

_The strangers mind became solid, no longer a hazy daydream. Everything about his thoughts changed in an instant. _

_Head thrown back, gasping with desire, Esme's hair had begun growing longer. The soft caramel curls fell and darkened into a shadowy chocolate, as the curves of her naked body thinned and stretched into leaner limbs. It was no longer Esme, and I had a hard time believing that it had really started as a fantasy about her in the first place. _

_And his face dipped low, lips caressing the supple skin of her exposed thigh. They touched a spot that made my veins run cold. It was a place I was familiar with, a mark I had placed my lips a thousand times. The spot where his lips rested told me exactly who was sighing beneath him, though I never saw her face pull up again. He smiled against the soft skin, the white of his sharp grin flashing in contrast to it. Then, he bit in deeply, and she screamed. _

It was then, at the party, I'd struck him.

"…and there haven't been any reported sightings in the area, so we can't rely on that." Carlisle was saying as I tore my mind away from the memory of the incident.

"If they're anything like the Quileute pack, we'll be able to smell them from a mile away," Rose added.

"But they might not be as likely to accept us in their area," Carlisle went on.

"And if there are no wolves?" Alice questioned in the same flat tone she's used earlier.

The question itself wasn't eerie. It was the fact she had to ask. She honestly didn't know what we were heading into. And that left even stoic Carlisle unnerved.

For a moment, the silence added to the heavy atmosphere. We had entered Romania a few hours before the sun began to fall below the western horizon. From that point on, the beautiful country sides and lush farmland gave way to darker, bleaker surroundings. It was gradual, but our eyes missed nothing. Our senses were already running on full alert, and even the smallest differences in the environment flying by the train windows did not go unnoticed. (yes—solid sensory detail, so beautiful)

Then, the train started climbing. Higher and higher, while the forests grew from sparseness to blankets, we rose in altitude. The surrounding sky never had the dulling yellows and oranges of the sunsets I had enjoyed elsewhere in the world. Here, the sky immediately went to fire, casting an odd rusty glow to the places it could be seen between the thick web of empty black branches.

Ominous.

"Son?" Carlisle's eyes burned into me. "Did you say something?"

I hadn't meant to say the word aloud, but I had all eyes on me now, and I cleared my throat.

"What we know about Vladimir and his brother is the entire world feared them. Man and monster alike. We can't trust them. We can't trust this place –"

"And we can't trust each other?" Emmett threw in with annoyed voice.

"And we should expect no wolves," I shot back.

His expression soured, and he turned to look out into the fading light.

"Everyone knows _that_, Edward," Rosalie cut in testily. She was protective of her husband and thought I was making fun. "We need information that's helpful."

My eyes narrowed.

"We know he was a madman."

"And we _know_ he was murdered in 1476." Rosalie was rolling her eyes.

"Do we?" Alice answered back. Her voice was barely discernable over the rhythmic sounds of the train along the tracks. "I'd say that in reality, we know nothing."

Emmett fidgeted in his seat next to me.

"Quit with the mood. You're making me nervous," he growled, but there was no force behind it. In fact, there was no emotion behind it. His mind was fixated on the deepening red of the evening sky.

I turned back to the feeble arguments at hand.

"I agree," I told them. "We know nothing. And we need to figure out what he wants with us in Transylvania before we get trapped."

I ignored the thought Alice sent me. She believed we were going to walk right into it, despite planning.

"He doesn't seem mad," Carlisle interjected. He was remembering the conversation at the banquet.

Vlad had approached him in regards to the werewolves of Romania. And he had seemed both sheik and cultured, knowledgeable in enlightenment, exactly the kind of man Carlisle would want to have long-winded discussions with. Hell, _I _thought he seemed like a fantastic conversationalist.

But that was before my fist ended up in his nose.

"All the more reason to be wary," Rosalie finally added something worthwhile.

"So, what do we do?" Another question from Alice – _the_ question – even more ominous coming from the person who usually answered it.

We looked to Carlisle again. And he thought it through, weighing the pros and cons of every possible solution.

Finally, he saw an answer, and I had to agree.

"Rose, you and Alice will board another train in Bistrita, and continue on to Budapest."

Rosalie looked immediately affronted, but Carlisle ploughed on regardless.

"Only for a few days," he assured Rose, but grabbed Alice's dainty hand with his steady one. "Then, Vlad won't know anyone else is with us, and we can keep you safe for now."

"What about you?"

_If Alice asks another question, I'll scream_, Rosalie thought. For once, I agreed with her. It seemed wrong on every level.

"We'll be safe if we are together," Carlisle assured, but I heard how doubtful his thoughts truly were.

And the hypocrisy didn't escape any of our ears.

Emmett sighed loudly and stood up. He was thinking about spending quality time with his wife, and how the proposed plan interfered with his fantasized howling at the moon, but Alice interrupted before he had the chance to voice it.

"You go with Rose," she told him, looking straight up with the calm mask in place.

"No, Alice," Carlisle started, but her hand slipped around his until she held it in the same comforting way he'd been gripping hers a moment ago.

Her mind flashed a weak, hazy vision to me. Emmett and Rosalie were together in the ancient Romanian city well to the South of where we would be. I nodded absently, in acquiescence.

No one said anything for a moment.

It was Emmett who finally spoke and his words stunned us all. He was still staring out the window. Behind the thin glass, the sky was deepening, darkening, but painted with a bloody tone that lightly reflected off his pale skin.

"This place isn't right. I thought it was Alice, but this place is giving me the heebie geebies," he muttered.

**Day 3**

Emmett and Rose boarded the first train out of Bistrita. Carlisle and I stayed in the local inn, until we were scheduled to be picked up and taken to the castle. We would have naturally continued on, but a small man met us on the platform at the station holding a sign that read 'Cullen.' Alice spied him before the doors opened, and was able to warn the rest of us. Emmett and Rosalie waited on the train as we exited and approached the man at the station.

He was small, only half an inch taller than little Alice, and very human. His heart palpitated wildly as we approached him. Deep brown eyes betrayed his terror. He eyed Carlisle nervously, before bowing low, and saying something in rushed Romanian. Luckily, I'd studied German and was able to translate enough of what he said.

"A message from my master." At least, I originally thought he said 'my' but then I realized he had meant 'the_._' "A message from _the_ master."

When Carlisle took the ivory envelope in hand, sealed in the ways of times long past, the dark-headed human fled.

The note was scribed in a pointed script, each letter sharp and exaggerated. It was in Vladimir's own hand.

_My friends, _

_Welcome to the Carpathians. I am anxiously expecting you. At the Bongo Pass my carriage will await you and bring you to me. I trust your journey from Italy has been a happy one. And that you will enjoy your stay in my beautiful land._

_V. _

It left little room for argument, so we settled into the Boar's Barrel for the evening.

The room was cramped, with two twin beds set side by side, draped in ragged, mismatched quilts. There was a small desk and a single lamp. Alice's thoughts were similar to mine as she slowly paced around the floor, gazing around at the dingy space. She stopped to look at the picture that hung on the wall. Her delicate fingers brushed over the dusty glass. It was a pencil sketch of the ancient Romanian forest, dark and light fighting for dominance inside the wooden frame. Alice lingered longer than necessary each time she passed.

Carlisle sat on the edge of one of the beds, still as a statue. His thoughts went from Esme, to Vladimir, to Bella, to the werewolves he'd met before. He wasn't sure what we would be heading into in the morning, and it was doing little to calm his unrest.

Alice threw herself onto the bed opposite Carlisle. Her mind was only on Jasper now. And Carlisle seemed to follow her lead, turning himself over completely to thoughts of his own spouse. Surrounded by their whirling memories of love, I couldn't help but be dragged into my own reminiscences.

The most beautiful image my mind held was one of Bella lounging on the edge of her fountain. She always dangled her fingertips in the clear water as she let the rhythmic pattering lull her into peace. Her face, calm, smoothed of all her stresses, was that of an angel, reveling in the one piece of Volterra that would only be hers alone. A small, Mona Lisa smile touched her lips.

The particular day I was remembering happened only two years after Bella ended the Volturi. It had been an overcast afternoon, and after searching Bella's tower and finding no sign of her, I walked the streets of the still broken city. Some buildings lay in different states of disrepair, but the rubble had long been cleared from the cobbled roads.

She was there, where I knew she'd be, draped gracefully on the edge of the fountain. She looked absolutely regal, even dressed simply in jeans and a white t shirt. It would have been something Alice might be offended by, but I found her casual tastes endearing.

She had to have been aware of my approach, as a gentle breeze blew from behind me, no doubt drenching her with my scent. But she remained immobile, eyes shut lightly. She looked as if she could be asleep.

"Ecco la mia bella addormentata," I murmured, "chissà se un bacio la sveglia... "

I walked directly to my sleeping beauty, to kiss her behind the left ear. She didn't even shudder.

Ah, but a kiss on the lips from her prince was the only way to awaken the sleeping princess, I mused.

As if I pressed against a delicate flower, I touched my lips to hers. The exotic floral flavor of Bella was thick on those pouty lips, and I wanted to savor it, but made myself pull away. My nose rested against hers, breath mixing together in quick gusts, and she smiled, full, pure, happy. Her eyes opened and drank me in. It was too personal a moment to share in public, but we were alone.

A light drizzle of rain began to bead in the air, but we took no notice. She turned her head and took my lips with hers, stealing what I would always give her.

That was what I thought of, the look on her face when she loved me. In the moments we were together, we were both so capricious, so light, everything else faded away. And there were thousands of moments with the woman I loved. A million kisses…

The darkness of night fled quickly while I warmed myself with thoughts of Bella.

"It's time," Carlisle said at dawn.

**A/N: Isn't Italian beautiful? *sigh* Oh, and I changed my mind. I'm not expecting too much from any of my readers. It takes 5 seconds to leave a review, and honestly, I'm interested to see if anyone can pick up on what is about to happen....I'm handing out Edward's cookies to anyone who can speculate correctly. But, hurry, I'm going to let the big secret slip next chapter....**


	9. Edward Cullen, Part 2

**As usual, none of the characters belong to me...except, I just now decided to claim Vlad as my own. He is definitely not Stephenie's.**

**Also, a big thank you to my beta extraordinaire, Gondolier. Awesomeness, I'm telling you. 100% pure awesomeness.**

**And, you have until the end of this chapter to figure out what my warped little brain is trying to do here. If you haven't had the lightbulb pop by the end of this chappie, just read the end note!**

**Thanks OCD_indeed, my twilighted beta!**

**Chapter 8**

**Edward Cullen**

**Day 4**

Vladimir sent an actual carriage to pick us up at dawn. But it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Four huge beasts pawed at the iced earth, turning the ground with their stomping hooves. Their hot breath puffed out of their nostrils in thick white clouds, while they moved anxiously in the paling gray light of sunrise.

Strapped to them was something out of gothic horror story, something that only the most perverse mind could imagine. Black as a starless night, the coach curled upwards and out in strange angles, until it gave the impression the box was slowly dripping away.

I repressed a shudder.

A small human jumped off the front and leaned over in a low bow.

"Your ride," he spoke in broken English, thick with a Slavic accent.

And we got in. Carlisle first, Alice next, and I following them, with a final glance over my shoulder at the Boar's Barrel and the empty streets of Bistrita. The man shut the handle less door behind me, and I felt trapped. Panic was building in my stomach, turning and roiling my venom as the sharp slap of the reins smacked against the hides of the unnaturally large horses. With a jerk forward, the carriage began to glide against the uneven earth. It felt uncomfortably like a hearse.

What the hell kind of place was this?

The horses rushed uphill, breathing in hard grunts, stamping into the frozen ground. The sun never raised, a daunting gray sky dulling its light. Around us, the trail wound up the Carpathian mountainside, climbing steadily through a dense encroaching forest full of black, leafless tree limbs. It was beginning to snow lightly, lazy white fluff swirling in a muted breeze.

Then, we hit a rise that looked over a wide plateau. In the distance rose a snowy hill. Atop it sat a castle, casting a shadow across the forested valley. Through the breaks in the trees, Carlisle, Alice and I watched it grow ever larger on the horizon through the small slit in the side of the posh carriage.

A lone howl pierced the air. Alice's eyes grew wide, but Carlisle only nodded. It seemed that we may be meeting some werewolves after all.

As soon as the feral sound echoed into nothingness, absorbed in the now heavily falling snowflakes, the horses stopped abruptly. They were pawing and whinnying nervously, and the door snapped open next to me.

The human seemed more distressed than his animals. He was visibly shaking, eyes darting back and forth.

"You go! You go now!" He grunted and pointed from the three of us and then behind him at the hill.

We exited the hearse gratefully, out into the storming afternoon air. The castle hovered high above us, and as soon as each of us were on the frosty ground, the crack of the horses' reins sounded again, and the macabre buggy flew away from us.

"Shall we, then?" Carlisle asked, picking up his bag from where the coachman had thrown it in his hurry to escape.

Alice and I nodded silently, as we grabbed our own things. Our thoughts were still hesitant, but we were here for a purpose. And we'd crossed the point of no return. There was no going back.

Ignoring the fact none of us had fed properly in four days, and I more like two weeks, we took off up the steep hillside. Another wolf howl reverberated as we climbed, but it pushed us faster. It occurred to me, as I ran over the icy ground, that it was littered with broken trees. Our first impression that the trees did not grow on this particular hill was only partly correct. They simply grew here no longer. Evidence of that crunched beneath our quick footfalls. But it didn't escape our eyes that the limbs seemed singed, _burned_, and served as a blackened reminder of some recent tragedy.

As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Carlisle's mind asked me a direct question.

_Have there been recent fires in the area? _He wondered.

I had done extensive research on the Carpathians, Transylvania near the Borgo Pass, in particular, and there had not been mentioned in any recent record of a forest fire that would create this kind of devastation.

As the castle came into view, we realized it too carried a thick dusting of black ash. But it was impossible. The last fires here happened over five hundred years ago. Ancient history.

We slowed our steps automatically as we approached the last rise. The castle now loomed darkly. It covered the entire horizon. Behind us, the Carpathians pierced the gray skies with dark jagged peaks. They no doubt extended all around this area, but it was impossible to discern with the mass of burned stones piled high into the snowy air.

Each pace forward was deliberate. Carlisle moved a half step in front of Alice and me, and when she reached for my hand, I didn't pull away. Her fingers against mine, shaking slightly as if she were chilled, was as comforting to me as much as my little sister. Without the small relief, neither of might have made it those final few meters to the monstrous front gate of the castle.

As Carlisle's foot rose to climb the six stairs to the door, it swung open eerily, creaking loudly. For a moment, no one was there, and the castle seemed to leer at us. We stood motionless, breath held deep in our chests, expecting something to pounce out at any instant.

And then a shadow appeared on the wall behind the open door. Obviously the shadow of a man, it seemed to belong to no one as it grew against the barely lit walls inside. Long shadowy arms reached outward, disappearing into itself, making it a solid black mass.

Alice was gathering the strength to scream. The shadow seemed to be coming straight for us.

Then a long dark robe appeared, a physical body following, as it glided in place in front of the seemingly disembodied shadow.

"Good ee-vening," he said, voice a mere whisper.

He was in the open doorway now, and the absurdity hit me hard. I actually bit on my knuckle to keep from laughing out. He was a short man, much smaller than his shadow had suggested. Alice would be able to look down on him.

White hair was piled into two distinct hives on top of his head. They almost looked like horns had they not reminded me so much of a powdered clown wig. Alice, thinking along the same lines as I, saw a clown when she looked at the stout vampire as well. But she saw a different image all together. Pennywise, clown star of a book-made-horror flick in the early nineties.

She shuddered, but I didn't see the similarities she did, aside from the dreadful hair. He was pale, with skin so thin it was nearly luminescent. He must have changed very late in life. A fine network of black, venom-filled veins ran beneath the sickly pallor. The one eye that was opened was narrowed, wrinkled around the edges, and the other was clenched shut. It concaved grotesquely, and I was glad he had the decency to shield us from whatever was behind it.

"I velcome you to our humble home," his whispery voice told us. "May you enter of your free vill and leave some off your…" He paused before finishing his thought. "_Happiness_…behind."

Carlisle hesitated before crossing the threshold. "Thank you," he greeted, congenially raising his hand to our welcoming host. "I am Carlisle Cullen, and these are my children, Edward and Alice."

"Velcome to you all," he said, with a small clap.

I tried to place the gleam in his eye, but his thoughts were genuinely delighted at meeting us. Carlisle in particular.

I did the only thing I could. I stepped into the castle and extended my hand to the man. Alice still grasped tightly to my arm, scrambled in after.

"Stefan Tepes," he finally introduced.

I couldn't help my jaw from sliding open with a pop.

It was true.

Then I noticed the vital missing element.

"Where's Vladimir?"

My distrust of the Romanian Prince slapped me in the face, disgusted I hadn't noticed his absence immediately.

"Don't vorry," Stefan said with a slight smile. "My brother is this vay."

He turned on the spot and headed down an unlit hallway. Carlisle immediately started after him. Giving Alice's hand a tug, I set after him. My sister shivered along behind, moving slowly like her feet were dragging through the cold stone floor.

The hallway was immense, and after spending a decade chasing Bella through the caverns beneath her beloved city, that was saying something. Unlit, it stretched on, seemingly endlessly. The darkness was so heavy and thick, I followed behind Stefan and Carlisle using my hearing alone. The funhouse effect had Alice's mind whirling. At the speed her thoughts moved and the way her eyes saw everything and nothing at once, I was surprised her legs were still moving on their own free will. It would be impossible for her to see anything, even if she had been able to look.

Then, only ten feet away, though I could have sworn him much farther, Stefan swung open a heavy iron door. Bright yellow light flooded the hall, constricting our pupils until the three of us held up our hands to shield our sensitive eyes.

"This vay," the odd vampire beckoned again and stepped inside.

Materializing from the black space outside the rim of light, Carlisle followed Stefan in. His face was shadowed, eerily blank. And his mind was no better.

Inside was a well lit room, candles dripping white wax from the sconces along the walls. It was windowless, with a high ceiling. In each corner of the room sat a tiny stone gargoyle. Each unique: one with bat wings, one mouth stretched in an ominous silent scream, and eight pairs of tiny black eyes that seemed to follow us into the room.

In the center was a huge table made of ancient oak, polished to a high shine. Twelve high backed throne like chairs were placed around it.

"Sit," Stefan bade us with a sweep of a cloak covered arm. "I vill gather my brother."

He shuffled from the room, the sound of his footsteps absorbing into the hallway as he moved back into the darkness.

We didn't sit.

Standing directly inside the door, we waited in the glowing room. I'd be loathe to admit it, but we were huddling. Each of us was too uneasy to move any further.

The seconds ticked away from somewhere deep inside the ancient castle. Time seemed to slow down as we waited. I don't know how long we stood there, timid as herded sheep, before I began pacing.

And sometime while I paced, unnerved that I detected no thoughts whatsoever in the castle aside from those in this room, Carlisle began walking around the room, inspecting the shelves of trinkets and books lining the stone walls. Alice never moved. Not an inch, aside from when I dropped her hand to begin pacing.

Suddenly she screamed. The high pitched shriek pierced the dull air and echoed everywhere. Carlisle and I moved to her instantly, and she nearly jumped into Carlisle's arms. A frantic finger jabbed the air as she stared wild eyed to something over my shoulder.

Then, Carlisle's eyes widened, but only enough to see the whites around the murky honey colored centers. I turned my head, shifting my eyes toward Alice's frantic finger.

And I saw the biggest fucking spider hanging precariously from a thin glimmering silken thread no more than a foot in front of my face. With long brown hairs covering the eight legs, and a body the size of Emmett's fist, I immediately understood Alice's reaction – I could see its _eyes! – _I felt like jumping away, too.

But a soft laughter held me in place, and I focused around the spider, and saw Vladimir glide into the room.

"We have very large spiders," he chuckled and reached forward taking the thread of silk from the air. He raised his arm until the enormous spider dangling on the end was at the level of his brilliantly crimson eyes. He looked interestedly at it.

Stefan appeared at his side and with a hungry grunt, took the disturbing arachnid, and exited the room hurriedly.

Vladimir smiled and fluidly sank into a velvet-backed chair. He gestured for us to do the same, and tried not to look too amused as we were slow to move, but finally we chose the three chairs opposite the so-called Romanian Prince.

As soon as I could see him, the man that had elicited my fury at the banquet, my nerves turned to echoes of that night. Seeing him eye to eye brought it back into focus. He was only a vampire, after all. No different from me, despite the place he chose to dwell. And his thoughts were benign, so it made it easy to look at him and narrow my eyes.

"I trust you had a pleasant journey." His accent wasn't as pronounced as Stefan's. It seemed very westernized. He met my glare for a second before moving his blazing gaze to Carlisle.

"Yes, it's been an experience like no other," Carlisle answered, effortlessly shifting into polite conversation.

Vladimir's smile widened, but it was genuine. "Romania is much like walking into the past. Of this, I know too well. Italy was truly a marvel."

His mind swirled around technical advances he'd seen on his trip, the movie theater in particular. It made it seem like he'd been living under a rock for ages. I wanted to ask him, but thought it best to leave my ability a secret for now.

Vlad was going on. "And I hear it was built from nothing? From ashes?" His eyes moved to mine, and I swore I detected a maliciousness to his stare, though his mind betrayed no hint of it. "And that spectacular woman, the destroyer? Ah, _beautiful_."

In my mind I glimpsed the memory from before. A naked body, a shiver of passion, a caress of lips. But I didn't know if it was a figment of his mind or my own.

"Isabella is something else," Carlisle kept it light.

"_Isabella_."

I didn't like the way he whispered her name. It was too reverent, too intimate. It was too much.

If Alice hadn't spoken, I dread to think what I might have done, but the look on Vlad's face just before she spoke seemed to say he knew too well.

"Are you really Dracula?"

The frankness of her question drew all attention to her. She was sitting straighter than she had at first, leaning against the shining table on her elbows. Her face showed nothing but determination as she stared directly at Vladimir.

Then Carlisle and I looked at him, too, because it was, after all, the question burning in our minds since he'd happened into our lives.

For a long moment he was silent, letting his gaze wander slowly to the corner and the gargoyle frozen in perpetual terror. Then, as slowly as he had averted them, he brought them back to Alice.

"Yes. I have been called _Dracul._" His accent was more noticeable as he spoke now. "But that vas long ago. I prefer Tepes, madam."

"But you are _the_ vampire king?" She went on, picking a name from the halls of vampire history.

The answering smile was sharp, exposing pointed teeth inside the curling red lips.

"Haven't we all done things we are not proud of?" The look in his eye could have been yearning, but I was unsure. "But, it was all long ago."

Alice and Carlisle were nodding. They didn't have a reason to, but there they were both agreeing that they'd committed the kinds of atrocities this man had been capable.

"That's absurd," I scoffed.

Carlisle only had to look at me, and I knew to hold my tongue. The image reminding me of a past conversation was unnecessary but served to humble me completely. I'd dealt with my own sins.

That didn't mean I had to trust this guy, but for Carlisle's sake, I crossed my arms over my chest and remained silently observant, scowl permanently settling into the lines of my face.

Just as Alice was about to articulate another, albeit inappropriate, question, Carlisle interrupted with his logical mind.

"We can sympathize, Sir Tepes. We all have to overcome our own demons." The dark headed Romanian nodded as my father spoke. "But you must understand our hesitancy in this instance."

Vladimir's mouth curled farther. "Of course," he said. "I would expect nothing less."

His accent dulled again. Alice shifted in her seat. She was staring at him. She was trying to pick something out, anything, but her mind remained fixed on the present.

When Vladimir spoke again, it was all business. "I've heard tell of your prior work with the werewolves who are not infected with the disease of the moon."

He referred to the ancient beasts that ripped through humans, infected them, feeding from them. Werewolves at the time, now thought to be actually infected with a mutative disease, became something of lap dogs for vampires, pets. Before he'd set about on his own eradication of the fiends, they'd lived side by side with vampires for centuries. But they remained dangerous, as Caius learned, to his detriment. His own lackey, an aging wolf, had turned on his master, nearly ripping him apart before the brothers were able to detach the beast from his flesh. After what I assumed a painful recovery, Caius scoured the globe destroying every single one of the diseased mongrels. He had seen that the monsters met their extinction in the sixteenth century, when he cornered and captured the last one near Paris.

But there existed a different wolf. One which Carlisle was more familiar.

"Men able to transform into beasts at will, unaided by the power of the lunar cycle?" Vlad continued. It was obvious he was intrigued by this new form of monster. "You know these wolves?"

Carlisle nodded. "I know of two packs."

"And you have befriended these animals? Talked with them? Learned from them?" The man's excitement grew.

"Yes."

A sharp clap sounded as Vladimir brought his hands together. "This is most promising. They have been quite a nuisance, and I have never seen such a breed of monster."

Carlisle was smiling patiently. "They are men."

The two were quiet for a moment, as Vladimir thought over Carlisle's statement. He was considering them as men, with thoughts and feelings. But his mind could only see them as instinctual beasts.

"Well. It seems you are the expert," he said finally, his tone dull.

Then he stood gracefully and smiled, showing his sharpened teeth again.

"Let us go, then. Perhaps you will have more luck reaching their _human _side."

He swept from the room, black coat tails snapping with his movements. There was only an instant that passed before we followed him back into the castle.

**A/N: Did you figure it out? If not, I'm not sure if I've done my job too well or not well enough, but I hoped you'd pick up on the clues. Of course, if you're not familiar with Bram Stoker's Dracula or Copolla's movie of the same name, then you'd never get it. So that's the big secret. I didn't want to scare away potential readers, so I kept it hidden until that part of the story really came into play. So, this is bordering a crossover. Twilight and Dracula. Does it get any better than those two genres? I don't think so. So, review and let me know what you think and if you're familiar with Dracula, can you take guesses at what might happen next? And if you think I'm one sick cookie, then tell me...you'd be right.**

**Oh, then go check out this new fic I've found. It also deals with Dracula. Its AH, but I've enjoyed it so far. Go check out Deconstructing Dracula by hmonster4 at : www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/4992954/1/**

**Happy Twilighting!**


	10. Edward Cullen, Part 3

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me...**

**A special thanks to my uber-amazing beta, Gondolier, who is fast becoming a superstar in the Twilight fandom! Check her out!  
**

**Chapter 9**

**Edward Cullen**

**Day 4 - Twilight**

It was already nearly dusk by the time we exited the castle again. The days were unnaturally short here, or perhaps we waited for Vlad much longer than it seemed. I glanced at my watch to find it had stopped with both hands pointing straight up. Noon. About the same time we entered Castle Dracula.

We followed Vladimir as he walked smoothly along the nonexistent path winding down the eastern slope of the hill. The leisurely pace allowed us the opportunity to look around.

This place was dark, gloomy, but somewhat breathtaking. For miles around this empty piece of earth, pine trees reached their needles upward, as if in homage to the gray skies. The tall copse extended until they hit the dark, sharp peaks of the Carpathians. They seemed close enough to touch, the white tipped slopes nearly an arm's length away.

The walk to the village was long, but comfortable. I lingered in the back next to the still silent Alice. She was trying so hard to see. Carlisle chatted in length regarding what he knew of the shapeshifting wolves. In turn, the Romanian traded his knowledge regarding the so-called Children of the Moon. Carlisle had only seen the ending of that age. His thirst for knowledge fed on any information, and found the trifles Vladimir leaked enthralling.

I found him boring. The more he droned on, the more I rolled my eyes. I couldn't really explain the feeling. He was, after all, intelligent, articulate, and opinionated. My distrust just flowered and blossomed with every word, even when I could see he was truthful.

At least we were out of the castle. It was so large, yet incredibly pressing, claustrophobic. Out here, the air was cool, clean. Maybe it had a bit of a charred taste, but it was easy to ignore when I had all my senses working. To my dead skin, it felt more like January than April.

"How old were you?" Carlisle asked from in front of us. I noticed Alice look up and paid close attention.

"I was twenty-five," Valdimir answered. "But I had lived a full life." He barked a laugh. "Not as full as my brother."

"I was interested in that," Carlisle pressed on. "He was changed much later."

"Yes. He had a hard time accepting what he was," Vlad agreed, with only a hint of coolness. "He eventually saw it was the only way. Dear Stefan waited until he was on his deathbed to call for my assistance. I fear his age has not fared well these long years."

"How did you mange to stay hidden all these years?" I found myself asking.

He stopped and turned to me, red eyes searching my golden ones.

"What you call hiding, I call grieving," he finally answered. There was genuine misery in his tone, but his thoughts were still veiled.

I found it more discomforting by the second that he seemed to blocking my ability from his mind. Like he knew what I could do.

And he still hadn't actually _said_ anything, yet.

"Grieving?" Alice wondered aloud.

The man who had inspired countless nightmares and horror stories remained silent.

The silence was noted by the three of us. I had to figure out what he was hiding. It felt like Bella's life depended on it.

We walked on in silence. Alice began humming some of Jasper's favorite songs. I wanted to lose myself so easily, but couldn't shake the nagging suspicions toward our seemingly gracious host.

Eventually, Vlad stopped walking. His voice interrupted the silence with a sharp tone. I could sense his unease.

"This is where I leave you," he spoke definitively. He had no intention of meeting the wolves face to face.

Carlisle had never expected him to. He nodded, and Vlad bent slightly in a bow before turning back and disappearing the way we had come. I watched him go with a scowl on my face. No. I could not trust that man.

We took a moment to gather ourselves. It would be easy to find the werewolf village from here. Their stench already assaulted our noses, and we were still a few miles outside their lands.

"Now what?" I finally asked Carlisle. My tone was unnecessarily irritated, but it was only covering for my discomfort.

"We go meet the wolves."

He turned and started through the trees. Alice and I had no choice but to follow.

"Shouldn't we have some sort of plan?" Alice wondered, hurrying to catch up to Carlisle's quick footsteps.

"I think it's best if we just introduce ourselves," he answered over his shoulder.

"We don't even know what we're walking in to," I reminded. "He didn't even tell us how many to expect."

Carlisle's nonchalance was starting to frustrate me. How could he seem so blasé?

"Well, packs are generally three to five members in size, and they always have a strong sense of personal history. It's fair to say they are men above all else, and all men react the same to courtesy and respect. I doubt we will find these men no different."

"Yeah, except these men will want to tear our heads off," Alice muttered under her breath, but I'm sure Carlisle heard her as well as I did.

"Men that turn into giant, drooling dogs, but just ordinary men. Sure." I got into her sarcasm. Carlisle just didn't seem to be operating on a completely rational level. Maybe someone needed to slap him.

But there wasn't time. The stench grew unbearable, and I stopped breathing. The dead forest around us became alive with motion. Branches snapped, tree limbs swung, and a fierce growling erupted on all sides of us. Instinctively, we backed against one another, each facing out at a different direction. Alice's slender body was tensed as she crouched low. I too assumed a defensive position, my body naturally coiling in, readying myself to spring.

One huge, russet-colored beast stepped slowly from the dense undergrowth. His sharp white teeth were bared as the deep feral growling slipped through them. His black eyes narrowed at me as he paused, halfway revealed. His shoulders were as high as mine, making him easily the largest of his kind I'd come across.

After enduring Vladimir's closed mind, I felt partially relieved that his thoughts were coming across loud and clear. The minds of six other beasts echoed the same mentality as they prowled around outside our field of vision.

_How dare the bloodsuckers' minions trespass here! _The russet beast was shouting, riling the others.

The growling turned into vicious snarling. One of the wolves barked out, and another howled. I sensed they were on the verge of attack.

"Carlisle," I hissed.

He raised his hands, palms forward, and turned his back to the other wolves lurking in the trees. Moving forward, Carlisle stepped between Alice and myself. We were all facing the leader of the pack, his fierce black eyes watching each move with intense scrutiny. I saw it would only take a single command, one thought, and the others would descend upon us. Their sharp claws and teeth were made specifically to rip through our granite flesh. We may be able to stave off a few dogs, but a pack of seven would be unstoppable. I needed to act immediately to prevent those jaws coming any closer to any of us.

"Stop," I told the dog. "We mean you no harm."

_We mean you harm, _one of the wolves thought wickedly from behind the underbrush.

I pushed their maliciousness aside and tried to reason with the leader, who still stood partially exposed, hair standing on end.

"Please, just wait. We only want to speak to you."

Carlisle spoke up. "We are here as friends. We need not behave like animals."

The resounding growls expressed their hatred of his wording.

_The bloodsucker tries appealing to our human sides. He tries to bestialize us, _the leader scoffed.

"No!" I shouted too loudly. "He meant this doesn't have to be a fight. No one needs lose their life today."

The werewolves hushed as the realization sank in. They knew I was hearing them.

"Yes, I can hear you minds," I told them.

The information did little to settle their nerves. The leader's eyes widened showing his shock. They'd heard tale of vampires possessing extra abilities.

His eyes slivered to blackness again. _Even with your sorcery, we will not fall before you and your friends have been destroyed. You hear me, leach? _

"I hear you, but you're wrong," I snarled back, losing my patience a bit.

Carlisle's hand rested on my shoulder, comforting my building anger.

"If you wish it, we will leave, but trust me when I tell you we bear you no ill will. We are different from others of our kind. My family and I do not take human life, we cherish it. We strive to maintain our humanity, just as you strive to maintain yours. I know other packs around the world. I have built trusting relationships with them. It can be the same between us. Our clans can coexist."

_They're lying, Samuel,_ one of the others thought.

I seized the information, and called him by his name. "We aren't lying, Sam."

_Then they try to dissect us. They aren't here to make friends," _the werewolf snarled as he thought. _You can't trust blooddrinkers!_

A whirlwind of thoughts struck, as the wolves bickered amongst themselves for a moment.

Finally, a younger mind, virtually untainted by the thousands of years of passing legends between generations, spoke. "We cannot be so closed-minded," he said. "We are responsible to our future generations. If a truce can be reached, we owe it to our children that we find out as much as we can. There is endless benefit to this."

We were only slightly surprised to see a tall, olive-skinned man step from the trees. He wore a pair of army green pants and a bare chest. He had long dark hair that swung below his shoulders and carried himself with an authority that made me reconsider who actually held the leadership within this pack. I could sense the tension as the others watched him approach. They weren't happy but accepted it with little grumbling.

"My name is Jakob," he said, holding a warm hand out to Carlisle. My father raised his and they grasped each other with equal welcome.

"Carlisle. And these are Edward and Alice," he introduced.

Alice also shook hands with the foreign werewolf, her mind remarking on how hot his skin was against hers. I only nodded at him. I was wary of everything around this place.

There was the sound of shredding flesh , and seconds later, two more men stepped from the trees. I could tell that neither one was the one I assumed leader. He had retreated back into the woods, prowling an invisible perimeter with the four others left in wolf form. They walked next to Jakob, and stopped half a step behind him, crossing their thick arms across their chests.

"These are my brothers," he offered in way of introduction.

They were not related by anything beyond their ancient blood ties, but the similarities between them were remarkable in that they were nearly mirror copies of each other. Each had the same darkened skin, fierce black eyes, though the two additions kept their black hair cropped short against their heads. And those two scowled at us with wrinkled noses, like _we _were the ones who stank.

With formalities aside, Jakob said, "You say you three are something different. Explain what you mean."

"Of course," Carlisle agreed immediately. "Perhaps you would like to sit with us as we talk?"

Jakob lowered himself onto a mossy boulder as Carlisle sat on one a few feet away. Alice slipped next to him, but I wouldn't permit myself the comfort as long as his wolf brethren remained standing at full attention.

"We have lived amongst humans for a century," he began, and over the course of the next few hours, Carlisle revealed his entire life to these creatures. From his change to his desire to save and devote himself to the preservation of human life, he kept almost nothing from the pack. Jakob and his companions stood still, listening intently to him. Carlisle's voice was calm, soothing, peaceful in the way only he can inflect. And they hung on his every word until they couldn't help but believe his words. It was Carlisle's own ability of sorts: to make others around him assured by his mere presence.

Night fell and dawn broke again as he talked. Midmorning, the three-century long tale had been told, and Carlisle asked for a response from his canine audience.

"I have met other packs like yours, shared my story, and heard theirs. I'm interested in your own legends, where your people hail. Would you be willing to share those tales with us?"

The wolves remained stoic as they thought it over. As they pondered their response, I noted that those in human form did not communicate telepathically with those in wolf form. So it did not exactly go over well with all the wolves when Jakob finally spoke.

"I will share with you our heritage, but let us rest. We are not undead."

"Jakob," hissed the man on his right. "What are you agreeing to?"

He smiled, and I was comforted by the fact it was bright, pure amidst this dark land.

"Be calm, brother," he said. "He wants stories. Nothing more. Look at the gold of their eyes and tell me they are like the others?" There had been others in the area recently, but his thoughts were moving swiftly, and I couldn't catch a glimpse of what he'd seen. "He has made an otherwise dull evening entertaining, and I can return the favor."

"Doing favors for the bloodsuckers? Are we _Ephraim_?"

A growl of agreement echoed through the other wolves. Carlisle and Alice tensed and I hesitantly took a step forward. That name, spoken as almost a curse, caused the rest of the pack to become hostile and unnerved, but none of them revealed the reason for the sudden shift in mood. They'd been hesitant, if not unperturbed, following the initial meeting, but had snapped back into their former aggressive selves at the mention of the name.

All except for Jakob, whose dark eyes hardened along with the expression on his face. He turned his back to us, toward his pack. The anger was almost flying from him as his body began a quiet shaking.

"You call me traitor? When we all hail from the same pack? He offers an exchange of information, and you balk at my acceptance!" His outrage and suddenly powerful tone slapped them all into humbled silence.

A fourth scantily clad man stepped from the trees, walking directly to Jakob's quaking form. He was larger than the others, and the lines around his eyes were the only thing separating him from his brothers, making him look like he was seasoned while the others were new to this life they'd inherited through their genes. He was the one I took as their leader, Samuel. And once I saw him as a man, I saw that it was only based on seniority he acted as leader. The other one, Jakob, was in charge, the one whose command must be yielded.

Samuel stared hard at the upset man. "We are each our own man," he told him in a muted tone that dulled the intelligence of his statement.

The rest, humbled and ashamed of their accusation, ducked their heads, echoed Samuel's words in mind and word. Jakob took a steadying breath and turned back to us.

We were enthralled by the interaction between them, and it was plain on our faces.

"I apologize," he said with a small bow. We recognized it for what it was: a sign of respect from the leader of this pack. The others ducked their heads, too, and the wolves knelt down on their forearms. No matter what had caused the momentary rift was sealed over as they accepted Jakob's esteem for us. It was all they could do. I saw that in their minds, but they offered us whatever their chief asked. For that, I was grateful.

"Please return and we will talk at length. I am eager to know more about these other packs you have encountered."

Carlisle nodded earnestly. "Of course. It's my honor to meet you, Jakob."

He held his hand out. When the werewolf took the hand this time, there was a sort of finality about it. The acceptance was done.

**Day 5**

We made our way slowly back to the castle, enjoying the muted sunlight filtering through the thick gray clouds. The wildlife was abundant near the village, and we took the time to gorge ourselves on the local fauna. Well fed and somewhat comfortable for the first time in days, there was no hurry to return to the pressing atmosphere surrounding Castle Dracula.

As we approached, Carlisle and I took special note of the hillsides on which the stone enormity sat. It was odd how the broken branches and uprooted trunks bore the signs of burning. The charred remnants still blackened our fingers when we touched it.

All of it was so odd, so strange that it seemed misplaced, out of its normal place in time. I knew it was ridiculous, but I couldn't help but feel like none of this should even be possible.

The door of the castle opened on its own again, but we were not greeted by the eerie shadow of the tiny, ancient vampire. And the corridors were lit at well-spaced intervals, so we could see down the length in any direction. Despite the lighter ambiance, the air was heavy, drowning us in its aberrance.

Alice, silent for a much longer time than I'd ever remembered, spoke at last. She sighed loudly. "I don't know how much more of this I can take. My mind feels weak. I feel too vulnerable."

Her voice was harsh from disuse and fear. She was worrying about her complete lack of visions. Too much time had passed. She thought she should have seen something by now. Even if it were some insignificant tidbit, there should have been some sign of the future, somewhere.

The inability to use her power of precognition had distressed my little sister to the point of exhaustion. This whole time her silence had been personal inflection, which had availed nothing. Now, usually bubbly and optimistic to the point of annoyance, Alice was withdrawn, fragile as she felt more and more powerless to help in any way.

I moved to her and wrapped her into my arms, wanting her to embrace me back. I wanted her to seek comfort in what we did have. She only sobbed, hands hanging limply at her sides, but she leaned her head into my chest. Moisture from the tears unshed inside her eyes seeped into me. She was losing it.

My eyes met Carlisle's and he returned my look with one of grave concern. It hurt him to see us hurt. Compassion swirled inside his eyes, and he moved forward, placing a soft hand on Alice's back.

"Be strong," he whispered at her ear. "You have experienced this around the other packs. It's a temporary blindness –"

Alice whirled around to stare at a slightly surprised Carlisle.

"Why is it I can't get anything _here_?" She demanded with an angry edge to her tone. "We're far enough away from the wolves that they shouldn't be affecting me! What the hell is happening?"

She was close to hysterics and furious with Carlisle. I stepped in between them to try and calm her before she started screaming, and she was already hovering near the brink.

But before I had the chance to really intervene, Stefan appeared at our side.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. I could almost sense amusement in his voice.

"No," Alice replied shortly. "I just need to lie down for awhile."

"Of course. This vay."

Stefan turned us to the left and began a walk down a corridor that mirrored the others. At the very end of it he stopped at a pair of doors.

"This will be your rooms vile you are our guests," he told us, throwing the door open. "Please, rest. My brother vill be with you this ee-vening. "

Then, he was gliding back down the hall, finally disappearing as he swept left at the entrance way.

We stepped inside the room.

**A/N: Yes, Alice is losing it, and yes, there is a reason...And yes, this is filler, but the next chapter is (even to myself) very creepy. **

**Please leave a review so I know who's reading!**


	11. Edward Cullen, Part 4

**The Twilight characters don't belong to me.**

**Big shout out to my Master Beta, Gondolier (her fic, Hydraulic Level 5 is all the rage!!!)**

**And to the Twilighted Betas (who are not too shabby writers, either) - they are a dedicated group of fanfiction goddesses (&gods?).**

**Ok, this chapter is the reason I rate this M…and it's not for sexual content –although I do like a little…- ok, enough rambling….consider yourselves warned…. **

**Chapter 10**

**Edward Cullen**

**Day 10**

The Romanian werewolves were as steeped in history as the others we'd encountered. Rich lore and tradition passed from father to son for countless centuries. And their memories were long. Much of the lost beginnings of our own species were preserved in the stories these men told their children around sacred bonfire ceremonies.

"Has the area burned recently?" Carlisle asked as they sun fell low in the sky. It had been the first partial sunny day we'd experienced since coming to this land and we had spent the afternoon lounging with Jakob and his two cohorts near the shore of a cool mountain spring. Strange we were more comfortable surrounded by our should-be enemies than at the castle.

We hadn't been allowed any nearer the village, but after the first time we'd met, only two other wolves accompanied their leader. And though it was always the same pair, they stood at a distance and only spoke to each other or Jakob, ignoring us entirely.

When Carlisle asked that particular question, the others' eyes fell on him. Jakob smiled in his easy way, but there was defensiveness behind those black eyes. With that simple question, a flood gate opened, and Jakob jumped in head first, revealing to us a history thick in legend, and undoubtedly based on truth.

"You wonder about your little hillside?" Jakob asked. "I was wondering when you'd ask.

"The simple answer is no, but that will not satisfy you, will it? That land burned one time throughout history," he told us, validating what we already knew. "And that was not in recent times."

He barked a laugh and his fellow pack members turned their heads, pointedly trying to ignore the conversation.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked your red-eyed friend. He would know much better than I."

"You're talking about the destruction of the Romanian coven?" I asked.

"What else could possibly set the countryside aflame?" He answered back with a wave of his hand.

"But it's only the hill-" Alice started, showing the first bit of interest in a week.

"No," Jakob's commanding voice interrupted, but Alice remained poised in attention as he went on. "The entire Transylvania Basin went up. The fire started at the castle and fanned out, stretching down the Borgo Pass to Moldavia. Nearly all of what was Wallachia burned to nothing. It was a desperate time for my people. The fires raged with unseen fury, destroying crops, livestock, homes. Other villages were simply lost in the flames." There was reverence in his tone that I couldn't help but respect. The more time I spent with him, the more I liked the man.

"When the winter snows finally smothered the flame, there was nothing to save. Everything was lost."

"But the hill is still burned," Alice interjected.

"Yes. It alone bears the marks of that tragedy," he agreed.

I decided blunt questions would be necessary if we desired a straight answer from him. "Why?"

"Ah," he sighed with a hint of a smile. "That _is_ the question. For centuries it was attributed to the evil that happened on that mount. But now, we believe it is something else that keeps that land from thriving."

"And that would be…?" I tried to lead the conversation.

Jakob moved his black eyes to mine. "There is one thing that exists in this world that is so poisonous, so deadly, it tainted the land for eternity, just as it would human blood."

"Venom," Carlisle spoke in a whisper.

Jakob nodded. "Exactly. The blood of your kin spilled over that ground, turning the earth black with its disease. I don't think anything will thrive there again."

To say the least, we were shocked. Our venom was so poisonous it ensured death, either condemning a soul to life consumed with the insatiable thirst or the poison itself. Of all known diseases, the infliction vampires shared was the deadliest. It killed every single time. So it made sense that the blood spilled five hundred years ago still tarnished the soil where the atrocity had occurred.

"How did the whole thing happen then?" Alice prodded for more. It was her own curiosity that drove her questions.

I needed to know for another reason.

After a moment, he answered. "It is said they staked their own flesh to the earth and let the venom tarnish it. But, only the survivors could tell you what truly happened."

"Then the Volturi set the fire?" Carlisle wondered.

Jakob barked out his humorless laugh.

"The Romanians set fire to themselves."

"But, that doesn't make sense," Alice groaned, frustrated by the riddles.

"No? Tell me what you know of it, of your Draculean Prince?" We did not answer, because we knew nothing about Vladimir or his brother. Jakob had to know much more.

"He's mad," she eventually whispered in response.

"Both of them are," I agreed. "Who else would turn on their entire coven like that?"

"I want to know why," Alice said. "What was the purpose of destroying their own empire?"

"They served their own purpose," he told her gravely. "And there are only two who could answer what it was."

The heat shone off the stream of sparkling water, and the breeze moved the tree limbs just enough to allow the sun's warm rays to touch my arm. The prisms from my skin danced around us, shining off leaves and rocks. Jakob's brothers looked over at me, disgust evident in their faces, but their leader only smiled.

**Day 11**

We returned to the castle afterward. No one greeted us at the door. That in itself was off, as Stefan always found us in the hallway after our evenings with the wolves. This morning he'd been absent as we made our way to our rooms. Not that we'd paid any attention. Each of us had been completely absorbed with our own thoughts on what Jakob revealed.

But as the morning dragged on, I became slowly aware of the creepy little vampire's absence. Not sure if I meant to confront them on their version of what happened those long years ago, I began walking through the monstrous building, searching for him, blinded by my mind reading's inability to penetrate through the walls. I didn't have the slightest idea where to begin without that power at my disposal, so when I left Carlisle and Alice still lost to their thoughts, I began at the top.

The roof had been destroyed centuries ago, and the upper floors abandoned to the elements. There was no sign of movement, not even a spider hiding in the numerous cracks up there. I hesitated at a small door that opened onto a platform. It had probably once been a balcony of sorts. Perhaps this had been the master bedroom.

Ducking my head, I moved onto the free standing slab of stone. It was somewhat surprising that the old luxury still remained on the top of the place, but even more so that it supported my weight without the slightest tremor. From this vantage, I looked down the dead hill to the forest of ancient trees covering the valley like a guard of black skeletons, arms stretched toward me.

I lowered myself onto the platform and leaned my back against the weathered stone. What happened next was too bizarre for me to make sense of it.

Terror stabbed into my stomach, and a shudder ran through my body, starting at every point I touched the balcony. A pressing sadness rolled through me, and then it was over. The strange barrage of emotions slid away as swiftly as they'd come.

I was left shivering, breathing deeply, and completely perplexed at what happened. My fingers found my hair and pushed through the strands forcefully. I was on my feet and back through the door in an instant, just staring back out. Nothing about this place gave me a more intense feeling of dread than that. It had seemed nearly supernatural the way I felt helpless, cornered.

At that point, I had to avert my eyes. If I could help it, I'd never feel that panic again. Not to that degree. It was too much.

Completely uneasy, I made my way down the enclosed staircase to the lower, inhabitable rooms. There was still no sign of Vlad or his brother in the lower hallways. Alice and Carlisle were deep in whispered conversation, so I continued farther down, to the bowels of the castle.

No light penetrated here, and the darkness seemed to almost gain mass, becoming something solid I actually had to move _through_. Like a fog that absorbed light. A black hole. But it wasn't nearly as ominous as the balcony, so I moved through it, trying to ignore the increasing pressure against my chest as the blackness seemed to solidify with each inch lower. The walls pressed in on me, dozens of large, wooden crates lining the small hallways, making them tight and claustrophobic.

It was then I heard it. Lightly muffled, as if coming through some sort of fuzzy interference, the thoughts seeped into my head. It was Stefan.

Deliberately slowing my pace, I followed the thoughts closer. The hazy reception only cleared a little as I moved, but they became increasingly louder.

_Squirm and wiggle, little friend. That's right._

I heard the sharp squeak echo from a door at the farthest point of the dungeons. I slowed even more. The scene inside that room slapped into me then, and I barely managed to hold in my disgust.

I had fed off the blood of animals for a century, and had, at one time, consumed even the smallest rodents. But what I saw playing through a truly sick mind, stabbed my gut. I was fighting the urge to either burst through the door and kill the twisted motherfucker, or get Carlisle and Alice and run away from here as fast as possible.

Sitting on an earthen floor in a dark cape, the white-haired ancient clapped his hands delightedly stabbing a thin twig into the soft mud beside him. Rivulets of crimson beaded down the wood, staining it. A fat brown rat wiggled and strained against the other end. It had been pierced through the middle by the end sharpened to a razor point. The struggles and panic of the creature only skewered it further.

The torture was unnecessary, horribly sick, and I was finally able to sever away from the demented mind. Turning, I hit a wall. The darkness turned velvet, impossible to see anything. I stood less than a second, shocked, before I understood.

It wasn't a wall at all.

He crept behind me, mind completely closed, so silently that I hadn't felt the air even stir at his approach. Now, the eyes colored with fresh blood met mine and stared into me. They were narrowed, giving my only clue to his anger. His thoughts were blocked. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but my own flight response kicked in. I was messing with a castle full of nut jobs. The best chance was to get the hell out of this place.

As if in response to my whirling thoughts, a tight sneer curled the corner of his mouth. It was condescending, arrogant, like he had expected to corner me like this.

It wasn't easy to repress the shudder this time, but the door creaked open, filling the deathly silence with an ear piercing shriek of aged metal. It was frighteningly similar to the squeals of the rat. With one madman behind me and another staring me down, it was exactly how I felt: like a cornered rat, and these cats had an extremely screwed-up sense of playtime.

"Vhat have ve here?" Stefan questioned from behind, his cold breath raising an icy shiver across my skin.

A pale, wrinkled hand settled on my shoulder. It might have been one of succor, but the pressure of his grip assured me otherwise. I groaned running over my options. There weren't many. Though I was sure Stefan would be dealt with swiftly, Vladimir was a different story entirely. It was hard to ignore the smug confidence and overall sense of power that oozed from him. I wasn't even sure Emmett's super-inhuman strength would be a match for him. I'd likely be easily taken in a fight.

"Young Edward here was looking for us, I think," Vlad answered without bothering to hide the burning hatred he now wore openly.

"Really?" the elderly brother asked, intrigue raising his tone. He always seemed so damned happy. The sudden urge to rip the laughter from his chest boiled through me.

Vlad tsked, moving quickly and throwing a long arm over my shoulder. Instinctively, I tried to shrug away, but his fingers pressed painfully into my flesh and led me away from Stefan, who remained too quiet as we retreated.

"It is not polite to eavesdrop," Vlad hissed as we walked.

I felt it best to hold my tongue, so we continued in silence.

He led us to a crack in the wall. It was so slender, we had to turn and enter sideways. Inside, though, it opened enough for me to walk through the rough hewn tunnel. With only the sound of our feet sliding across the smoothed ground, I was goaded further by the flesh and blood nightmare floating behind me. I could almost hear the excitement emanating from him. It was possibly the worst kind of demoralization I could have endured, but we hadn't reached the end of this, yet.

He'd ruled our kind with ferocity never seen again. Outside the calm and intellectual exterior lay the worst kind of monster: cold, cunning, and crazed. It was right to fear him.

The tunnel opened out into a small hand dug cave. The damp earth smelt of rotten meat and dirt. The ground had recently been disturbed. Two pairs of distinct footsteps led out of the mire. After taking it in, I turned to face him, Vladimir Tepes, Dracula, the Dark Prince, and known by countless others.

He lurked at the mouth of the opening, seemingly larger now than ever. His eyes watched with a dull fascination. As I faced him, the sneer turned into a full smile showing his pointed teeth. His eyes flashed dark for a moment, and his mind opened.

The ferocity with which his memories hit me knocked me sideways and I stumbled, letting my knees find their way to the soft mud with a thud. My hands pushed against my eye sockets, willing myself not to see, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

It was a mixture of past experiences woven with something like premonitions of the future. Horrifying things swirled between fiery landscapes and sharpened stakes. Only one thing remained constant.

The snarl that ripped through my throat was vicious. He was taunting me, with corners of red lips turned into a wicked sneer. To what end, I was unsure. He'd led me to the very depths of his home and forced me to live through a battery of sick, twisted memories. My knees buckled, even though I was already on the ground.

Vlad laughed aloud, the sound ringing and echoing in the cave like a demented chorus of fallen angels. He could sense my distress.

"You have no idea who I am," he snarled.

"I'm not scared of you," I lied with defiance.

His gleaming smile pierced the dark room.

"You really shouldn't have said that."

**A/N: Now, if that honestly didn't make you a little queasy, your world is far darker than my own…I'm sorry…**

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	12. Boredom

**Everything Twilight belongs to someone other than me!**

**Big thank you to Gondolier who is my supreme beta! She is so cool..I can't think of a good way to accurately describe her coolness, but please know it far exceeds my own. **

**And so does OCD and vjgm, my Twilighted betas who are...*sigh*...the epitome of awesomeness. (Look! A new adjective! It's too bad I had to steal that one.)**

**And, lastly because I know I'm going on and on, I wanted to mention about the impalement of rats in the last chapter. I didn't just stick it in there to cause any one to get disgusted. Turns out that the real Vlad Tepes impaled rats when he was imprisoned with the Turks. Eeew...And, Btw, Vladamir Tepes in RL was one sick cookie! ;)**

**Now, on to Bella's POV:**

**Chapter 11**

**Boredom**

"Quit being all emo and shit," Felix snarled suddenly. "You're driving me crazy."

I popped open one eye against the bright glare of the afternoon sun and looked at Jasper pacing in front of the huge windows in my office.

He'd been pacing a lot.

When no one replied, Felix went on, muttering with irritation. "I should have kept Tanya here. At least there'd be something to do."

"You mean some_one _to do," I hissed back. The last thing I needed was the blonde heifer prancing through my streets. I had enough to worry about.

Felix was smiling. I didn't turn to look, but I could hear it in his voice.

"Jealous are we?"

"No, just irritated," Jasper interceded, singling out my strongest feelings.

"Don't worry. In a few more days your lovies will come home to you, and all will be right with the world."

I couldn't help but notice the cynicism laced in his words, but it was hard not to detect even the smallest inflection. Jasper had definitely been less controlled with his ability to spread the love, so to speak. It made it harder to argue with Felix's complaints.

I sighed loudly and sat up on the lounge chair pulled next to the open window. We had been enjoying the spring sunshine— lazily wasting away the afternoon basking in the rays, while remaining hidden from prying eyes. The comfort I'd hoped to feel never manifested.

"I'm bored," I finally said.

Felix sat up from his spot on the floor and grinned at me. "Now you're talking. We've been holed up here long enough. Let's _do_ something."

The familiar mischievous glint lit his crimson eyes. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh, no," Jasper stepped between us. "We're supposed to stay here."

Felix snorted and hopped to his feet. The floor shook beneath my chair as he landed.

"Don't be a nancy-boy," he laughed darkly.

"I believe I was only told I couldn't go to Romania," I added. "There's no reason to mope around here."

"Exactly! Why let them have all the fun?" Felix was getting excited. Jasper was trying not to let the feeling sway his mind, but I could feel when he began to crack. The air seemed to tremor slightly when he tried to rein it in.

Just then, the door to my office slammed open and into the wall with a loud bang. Our eyes fell to Esme entering in her Donna Reed dress, complete with a lacy apron. She seemed to take no notice of our curious glances. A light melody hummed across the room, and I recognized it as the ode Edward had written for her. A blank smile was pasted on her pink lips, but her eyes looked underfed and far away. Felix cleared his throat, but Esme took no notice, delicately swiping through the room with a French feather duster possibly taken from Emmett and Rosalie's box of naughty costumes.

But that wasn't the strange thing. Esme had been through here only eight hours ago. This was getting out of hand, and I promised Edward I'd keep her company, keep her mind off Carlisle. I had failed miserably, and Esme's sanity had slipped.

That was the problem with boredom. It causes people to behave strangely and in ways that they wouldn't normally. Like Esme. Only two hours after Carlisle left, she retreated to her room for an entire week. I suspected she'd only emerged to feed, but refused anyone's attempts to accompany her. Even Jasper's.

When she came out, it was obvious that something wasn't quite right about her.

And then she had started dusting.

For a week and a half she scoured the city, cleaning, sweeping, but most often dusting away a layer of dirt that apparently only her eyes could see. I wanted to feel bad for her. The separation from her mate was giving the woman's psyche a brutal blow. But it was hard to spare the sympathy when her actions made it easier for me to refrain from slipping away, too. It kept thoughts of my own fissure from becoming too much. I knew it wouldn't take more than a slight shift of focus, and I'd be right there with her.

Dusting away.

I'd been down that road before, though, during my self-imposed separation from the entire Cullen family a decade ago. I'd never survive that again if I let myself think for one second that Edward wouldn't come back to me. I had to tell myself over and over again that there was nothing to be afraid of. Eventually, the reminding became habitual. I didn't have to think about it anymore.

And in the meantime, the city gleamed.

My movements were graceful as I sprang toward Esme. Any normal vampire might have jumped out of the way, or at the very least, flinch at my quick movement, but Esme hummed on, pitifully ignorant of anything around her.

I placed a soft hand on her shoulder. She paused, but didn't turn. It made me feel horribly guilty.

"Esme," I whispered, because anything louder felt like too much.

Jasper's reassurance rolled in from behind as he tried his own brand of comfort. He moved closer, but stayed behind me.

"Let's get out of the city for a few days," I told her. "You need a break."

"I don't think Volterra will survive these constant cleanings," he threw in.

Esme's head shook back and forth. "Carlisle will be home in a soon."

I raised my eyebrow just as Jasper shot me the same confused look.

"Esme," I tried to use a soothing tone, "we can take a weekend to unwind a little, a hunting excursion to Montecristo. The permits should be easy enough to obtain."

She was still for a pregnant moment, before she turned and smiled in the easy way I'd not seen all week.

"I've been letting myself get too carried away, haven't I?"

Felix was nodding, but Jasper stayed still. I reached out and grabbed her hand and led her into the sunshine from the open window. Her darkened eyes, ringed only with the faintest line of gold, sparkled against the rays. She closed them and let the warmth strike her face. Her lips turned up slightly, as the light prismed from her pallid skin.

She sighed softly, then increased the pressure on the hand still connected with mine. "I've always had trouble occupying my mind when he's away," she said. "But, honestly, I'll be fine. You kids should go on ahead and have a nice weekend."

I looked at her skeptically, and she actually laughed aloud. "No more cleaning," she promised. Then she turned around and raked her gaze around my office. There was a familiar gleam in her eye that I didn't recognize immediately, but it made me instantly wary of that angelic smile.

Jasper chuckled just before she continued. "I think I see another way to get my mind off things."

This time, the way she memorized my office walls made her intentions glaringly apparent. Makeover time on a grand scale. Esme was like Alice in that way, but where Alice tried to perform unwanted makeovers on people, Esme wanted to do unnecessary restorations on places. And when I thought about it, Rose was the same way about cars. The Cullen women all shared the same glint in their golden eyes when their devious minds saw a project. The rest of the world cringed away.

Felix was no different and groaned loudly, immediately recognizing his weekend hunting plans were being pushed aside. And he'd been looking forward to hunting the animals, despite his constant grumbling about vegetarianism. I shot him a look. He sighed, but stayed quiet.

I turned back to Esme. "That sounds great," I cheerfully lied. "Let's go Goth this time."

Esme chuckled lightly. I could see the worry drain from her eyes as she laughed off my sarcasm. "Nonsense. If you want dark and dreary, go to your tunnels. I was thinking something a bit more regal. Red and gold? Or perhaps royal and white?"

It was really difficult to hold back my own groan. The mundane mixture of white and ivory was fine, comfortable even, but I'd let Esme stew in misery long enough. And I had promised Edward. I'd hardly been good company to Jasper and Felix, let alone poor Esme. So, with some effort, I turned my lips into a soft smile as Esme prattled on about different color schemes she deemed stately.

Felix stomped back to the open window, and she paused in the middle of her internal debate over the best color to offset a bold red. Her eyes flashed over the three of us. She smiled, but the softness I saw there was unlike anything I attempted to twist onto my own face.

"You three should take the weekend," she said. "It'll do you good."

"It'd do you some good, too," I reminded her, but it was only half-hearted as my mind whirled away, thinking of the delicious fauna of Montecristo. The island had no predatory species, but the remoteness of the location and the lush, forested hills was enough to make the trip worthwhile.

"Nonsense," Esme repeated, her voice miraculously restored to its normal tone. "You three go. It'll give me time to work."

As much as that idea was a bit frightening, the pull of returning to the desolate island for a relaxing hunting excursion was stronger. But I didn't have time to ask if Esme was sure she was alright with the rest of us leaving town for a few days. Felix had already pulled his phone from his pocket and was dialing.

Our eyes turned to him as we listened to the faint ringing coming through the receiver. A cheerful woman's voice answered on the other end.

"Yes, I am calling on behalf of Isabella of Volterra…"

He began pacing while he tried to arrange the weekend, but was growing irritated as the human on the other line apologized profusely. She was telling him the entire island had been chartered already. Months ago.

"I'm sure there's something you can do," he flirted, desperately attempting to get us our weekend. He must be more desperate to get out of Volterra than I had imagined. Then again, how could I have thought any differently? Since his change in 1700, Felix had been trekking across the globe, hunting out rogue and unruly vampires. The closest he'd been to "tied down" was our relationship, but that allowed for ample travel opportunities. He'd only been back two weeks, and had already been dying to get out again. Maybe he felt as trapped here as I felt at home, but whatever the case, Felix was pressing for the woman to get the other patron to reschedule. He was representing an Italian dignitary, after all. Why was the government favoring foreign bigwigs, anyway?

The woman took on an intimidated tone, promising to see if she could work something out, trying to halt Felix's impressive political rant.

"That's all I ask," Felix said shortly, and disconnected the call with a flip of his wrist. He looked up and smiled devilishly. "She'll get us that island."

Jasper laughed aloud and I turned back to Esme with a roll of my eyes.

"Well, whether or not that pans out, I guess I should help you get started," I told her. I did my best not to sound glum as I'd spend the next few hours (days, possibly) scouring the antique shops, looking for that one eclectic piece to build a whole new office around.

The caramel-haired fairy tale's face lit like a Christmas tree, shining and bright and beautiful. I passed it off on catching a ray of the sunlight, but it didn't fade away as it should have. She was annoyingly happy, where only a few minutes ago she'd looked every bit as dead as her still heart inferred.

And so, as soon as the sun slipped below the walls, we began walking through Volterra, looking for something that Esme would know when she saw. As for myself, I was content just to be moving again. The last two weeks had been harder than I tried to let on.

Esme was good company, despite her zealous pull to redecorate. She asked for opinions and made idle chat, never trying to delve too deep when we discussed Edward, and never mentioning Carlisle. I knew there were still some uncomfortable feelings there. I had them for her. No matter how good this woman was, she wasn't nearly good enough for my former lover. No one was, but she was about as close as they came, so I had to give her that.

While we walked, my mind rolled with lazy thoughts of Montecristo. I remembered my first visit to the island. I had read Alexander Dumas' fictional masterpiece, _The Count of Monte Cristo, _and had to see the place this dark novel was set. Unfortunately, it bore little resemblance to the actual island, but I could still feel the ambiance there.

When the Italian government opened it to private hunting in the early twentieth century, it became a wild tourist destination for the rich and uninhibited. Accessible only by private yacht, Montecristo was a playground for the posh and filthy rich. I think the pull of the place was based on its elite status. Only one thousand permits were issued each year. I had never been denied, even when I was only a member of the Volturi Guard. My much improved status allowed for indefinite benefits, and I had no doubt the little human Felix had terrified was frantically trying to make arrangements, or possibly flat out lying to get the other patron to cancel his reservations.

Esme stopped to look at a painting that hung in the back of the little store that felt too crowded with only the two of us inside. There were a million trinkets and antiques lining the walls, on table, set in bookshelves. There were boxes, tea pots, urns and so many other useless things, it was making my head swim trying to take it all in. Esme hummed happily and looked over the oil painting of a round naked woman lounging against a twisted fruit tree. She was being fed a shiny red apple by a flying demon with black eyes and tiny horns pointing from his forehead. It was definitely something that belonged in a museum, or perhaps locked in the Vatican vaults. Something like this would have been considered heresy at the time it had been created. The artist would have undoubtedly wound up in the gallows, or worse, hanged.

Thinking of the raw evil that humans can possess, even with their endless capacity for compassion, was not a good way to lift my mood. I hoped Esme didn't try and put that in the office. It gave me the willies.

I was glad when my cell began to erupt in vibrations. The interruption was a pleasant one. I took my eyes away from the painting and answered it.

The arrogant voice bellowed from it before I'd even put it to my ear. "Who's your daddy?"

"You got the permit?" Esme looked over at me. I decided not to notice the blank look in her eyes that took a little too long to shake. I didn't want it to be there, so I pretended it wasn't.

"Oh, ye of little faith," Felix scolded playfully. "After all this time, how can you doubt me?"

"It's easy," I laughed, suddenly too buoyant to play pity party.

Maybe I needed this more than I thought.

I finished the call with Felix, only a bit disappointed that the other patron only acquiesced to share the island, and tried to pull myself back into Esme's shopping frenzy, but was unable. I don't think she even noticed. She moved along quietly, only seeming to look over the antiques. Her mind was already somewhere else.

When we begun to walk back to the tower with very little to show for the three hours, I decided to make one last effort to get Esme to come with us. I had the nagging suspicion she was just biding her time until we left, and she would sink back into whatever pit she'd been in before.

"Esme," I started softly, "please reconsider. Let your hair down, relax, _live a little_. Redecorating can wait. Come with us."

I hoped my straight-forward pleading would sway her.

"No." She didn't look at me. She didn't even pause in her walking.

I grabbed Esme by the crook of her arm, swinging her around, so she had no choice but to stop and face me. I looked hard into her eyes, trying to read them. But life swirled in them again, and I probably ended up looking more confused trying to decide if that dead look she had been wearing had been there at all. I started questioning which of us was really the one going a bit crazy.

I pinched my nose in a habit stolen from Edward. (He was so sexy when irritated.) Esme's thumb immediately wiped gently across my forehead, easing away the worry with a soft touch.

"I'm fine." Her voice was sure even though it was a bare whisper.

And, selfish as I am, I accepted it, knowing it was a lie, knowing I was breaking my promise to Edward. I was already justifying the departure.

I was already gone.

That made it easier to think of other things as I packed. And there was so much.

I couldn't help wonder what Edward must be doing. We hadn't really heard from any of them, but I didn't let myself think something was wrong. Vladimir Tepes was only intimidating in presence. In reality, he'd seemed like a reserved, soft-spoken man. And those strange…daydreams…as unsettling as they were to me personally, they would hardly lead me to believe he was vicious. Domineering, fascinating, sexy, but not threatening. At least not to anything outside my own sanity. Edward and Carlisle were probably spending long hours in conversations with the dark stranger, absorbing his knowledge. They might even be enjoying themselves.

I swallowed hard as I threw in a couple pairs of hunting shoes. I convinced myself _again_ that the fluttering feeling in my stomach had more to do with missing Edward, and not thinking something could have gone wrong.

It was best to switch my thoughts. I zipped up my duffel bag, now stuffed full of dark, form fitting clothing, adequately suited to the terrain of the island. I glanced around the dark apartment. It was empty; the bed still unmade from the night before he left, but everything else scrubbed to a high gleam, courtesy of Esme. It was strange she'd overlooked the bed, but I didn't focus on it.

Realizing I had a few hours to kill, I set back to the streets, heading for center of town. My tower pierced the night, a black on black point casting even darker shadows across the city. But I had no intention of returning to the office on top that would be every bit as empty as the apartment I'd just left.

The comforting sound of water splashing lured me to where I wanted to be. My fountain. This spot had always been mine. Before Edward had rebuilt it, another stood in its place. And that belonged to me as well. I hadn't spent much thought on the predecessor whose splashing water lulled me for centuries. The smooth white marble beneath my fingertips reminded me of the love Edward so blindly gave the monster I had been, but what of the beautiful stone fount that had been before Edward's love?

Of its origins, I knew little. In retrospect, I supposed I had assumed it was a sort of changling gift from Aro. Of course, that was when I had _assumed _that Aro had reared me for something other than his supper. Now, knowing that Marcus had been the one to save me from Aro's ravenous hands, everything I had believed of my past changed.

These thoughts only added to the jumble of strange happenings inside my mind.

What about all these strange memories of a past I had never recalled before? It was as if, suddenly, they were awakened in me. What could have caused them to stir, even before I met Vlad? But, the reason it was happening wasn't what disturbed me the most. It was the visions themselves – the very way I became a part of them – that slowly strengthened and infected my conscious mind as well. Until, my mind was constantly on them.

I now felt as if I knew Vlad intimately, though we'd barely spoken. I'd seen myself wrapped in his pleasuring embrace, tasting his lips, feeling his cold body move above my human one. Over and over my memories were full of him and me, caught in the grips of desire. Blood was always prevalent in the fantasies, and my yearning for the same raw passion increased daily.

They weren't always sexually oriented. Many of the memories had taken on an ominous depth that I had yet to decipher. These were of me fleeing, running down the darkened tunnels and up shadowy staircases that I couldn't recall. These gave no pleasure, no matter how perverse. These were the things of nightmares, the things that you hope stayed hidden in the darkest parts of your mind. But I couldn't stop them. None of them. The sex, the chase. They came at me, attacking me while I was emotionally vulnerable.

My fingers swam along the surface of the rippling pond. This fountain, smaller, but lovelier than the other, was everything that was right with the world.

Which was probably the reason I thought about the older one.

Fifty feet across and only as deep as my ankles, the other fountain had been made of a gray marble. It had simple lines, three tiers, and dripped with imperfect splashes. I closed my eyes, picturing it in my mind, watching as each molecule of water spilled over the brim of the tiers. Drip, drip, drip, a thousand times over each second.

The sounds of reality swirled behind as I immersed myself in memory.

Drip, drip, drip, and I breathed in slowly. I wanted to relive a memory with Edward. He'd recited a line from Sleeping Beauty, his voice melodic and low as it brushed my ear. But as hard as I thought out each detail, I couldn't throw myself into it in the way I could the other, more mysterious visions.

Ignoring the taste of pine thick on my tongue, I inhaled again and held my breath. There weren't pine trees in Volterra. I was almost afraid to open my eyes.

But, incapable of backing down, I forced my lids to rise and was only half surprised to find myself in the middle of the forest of sharpened stakes. I had almost been expecting it.

Stretched on either side of me were the same rows upon rows of dark pointed impalements, pushed into the ground. There were thousands, and I could see as the ground gently sloped down in the East, that there were perhaps thousands more I couldn't see.

My eyes took it in as I slowly stood. I realized, then, that I sat on the edge of my ancient fountain. It was dry and unfinished, the bottom littered with stray leaves, but it was undeniably the same. It was just missing the top tier and ornamental top.

I shuddered and stumbled back a step, heart pounding against my fragile ribcage. Suddenly frantic, my head moved back in forth quickly. Something was moving amidst the rows of ghostly fingers. I moved back again, only to set my foot on higher ground. Behind me, the hill loomed. Atop that was the huge castle that I had only seen out of until now. I didn't want to go in there.

A shadow moved a few feet away, but it was gone before my human eyes could locate it. Black and dark and void of color, the night had me cornered.

If I had any doubts about who might have been stalking me, they were lost the second I heard his softly accented voice.

"I've found you," he whispered into the night.

The thrill of trepid anticipation sped through my body.

Almost like I had been waiting.

**A/N: **

**Ok....well, this might be the last one I can get out for a couple of weeks...I'm off to some fun and sun in the DR for 16 days!! *start salsa dancing on the table* I'll try and get one more chapter out before I leave, but we'll have to see how crazy sh*t gets next Monday. Something tells me trying to get 5 people out of the country is not an easy chore. Well, we'll see!  
**

**Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate if you drop a review, so I know you're out there!**

**Oh, and in the meanwhile, new rec for you (and I probably the last person to find this, but if you haven't read it, do it!) Creature of Habit by EZRocksAngel. Chapter 10 is brilliant hilarity!!  
**


	13. Buona Sera

**So, nothing is mine... **

**Gondolier's mad betaing skills rock and my socks...**

**And you get two chapters today, because evidently I forgot to post this before I left. (Check for the big author's note on the next one. I wanted to post yesterday, but realized I was behind a chappie, then ff wouldn't let me get back into my documents. I just went to bed, but here you go...)  
**

**Chapter 12**

**Buona Sera**

The wind blew my hair from my shoulders, caressing them. There were high hazy clouds in the sky and the warm water was rolling in easy summits. It was a perfect day for sailing. Jasper was at the helm, enjoying the salty spray from the bow as it broke through the rising and falling water. Felix sat near him, legs crossed and relaxed, sublime smile on his lips. I'd been sitting next to him until Montecristo came into view.

The green and rocky island suddenly appeared, bobbing on the horizon, and I moved to the bow to watch our progress.

"Don't tell me you never thought about it," Felix was defending himself.

I turned back to see what they were talking about. Jasper chuckled.

"Of course I've _thought _about it. She's a succubus. She _makes _you think about it. Doesn't mean I ever really considered doing anything."

"Well, Alice is a hot little number," Felix offered in assent. "And feisty. But Tanya—"

I rolled my eyes, letting their bickering fall away behind me as I concentrated on the waves breaking against the boat, and then, crashing against the rocky beach. I could make out a long wooden dock jutting out from a small, natural inlet on the leeward side, and the moss-covered ruins of the ancient monastery atop Christ's Mountain.

But, aside from the brine of the sea and the scent of the living beasts on the island, it seemed completely empty. When we anchored near the dock, I jumped onto the wooden boardwalk easily and turned to face the interior of Montecristo. The foliage was in full bloom this late into the season, turning the blankets of leaves to bright green. I could hear the movement of deer and wild hogs just inside the cover of the forest. My anticipation grew, and venom began pooling in my throat. I subconsciously licked my lips.

"Put that pretty little tongue back in that your mouth, or I'll find something really tasty for it to lick," Felix teased as he strutted past me, boots falling heavily against the weathered boards.

But he was quick to move when I shot after him. Our foot falls slammed against the wood and then sank into the soft gray sand as I chased him. More experienced and able to change course on a dime, Felix bent and flowed outside of my reach. Like the wind, he was impossible to catch.

I let this game of cat-and-mouse go on for a moment until Felix's mouth smiled with his cocky grin, sure he'd bested me. I stopped with my feet half-buried in sand and Felix twirling around me, a moth dancing around the flames. So I burned him.

With the slightest release, I snapped my shield out. It was more forceful than I would ever use on Edward, but nothing to the debilitating power I had wielded in the Volturi tower a decade ago. Felix slammed hard into the soft earth twenty feet away.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," I laughed. He groaned in response.

Jasper walked up next to me, smiling wide. "And Edward worries about you," he said simply.

I absorbed his gleaming pride. It felt good to feel good again.

Arm in arm, Jasper and I walked past the still grumbling Felix and stalked into the life-infested trees. The way to the ruins was grown over and winding. It was only half-way up the 650 kilometer dormant volcano, so we made it there in no time, despite the leisurely pace. But we enjoyed the filtered sunlight and the cool breeze from the water.

Wildlife milled all around us; in no hurry, we spent time looking over the crumbled buildings and statues littering the overgrown trail to the monastery. There, just inside the volcano's sleeping crater, the ruins splayed across the caldera. It was beautiful in a pricelessly modest way.

Jasper looked over everything, examining each brick closely without disturbing them. Always the history enthusiast, his first experience here made him awe struck. I let him investigate, no doubt trying to think what life must have been like for the monks who'd inhabited this island centuries ago.

The company involved with managing the resort had rebuilt two of the buildings to act as lodging. What I supposed was meant to look like the same ancient stone and architecture was piled unimpressively together. A hodge-podge of new and original materials created an aesthetic look that was cheap and hurried, but for dulled human senses, the scene before me probably looked astoundingly authentic.

There were fifteen uneven, granite steps to the building we'd be lodging in. Sunlight filtered through the clearing, glinting off stones and leaves, and drenching the entire area in a cool green glow. There were still no signs of the other guest in the other structure, and the air was light and refreshing. We had this time to ourselves. We didn't have to hide; we were alone. It was a freeing feeling to be able to push aside those facades we had to work to maintain day after day, year after year.

There was a rustling that broke through the placid afternoon. Twigs snapped and cracked about a mile away from us. Jasper stood up and listened to the commotion. Suddenly, Felix's voice yelled out, ringing over the entire island.

"Dibs!"

I didn't even have time to think about what he was claiming. Like a bolt of lightning, I streaked off in his direction, determined I get my hands on whatever animal he'd spied first. It was all a matter of principle.

I didn't, in fact, reach the meal first. Jasper confused us with a barrage of emotions and snuck up, pouncing on the mangy warthog with a lithe bound. While he dined happily on the pig, Felix and I gave in with good graces, and found our own dinner.

Licking a drop of blood from the corner of my mouth, I relaxed back on the damp ground. I'd feasted on an array of the island's offered delicacies. Felix and Jasper crashed through the brush in the distance, still tracking and feeding. But, I took a moment to just sit back and relax. Peace filled my mind, and I hoped Jasper was close enough to feel it. He needed this as much as I did, but still hadn't admitted it.

Even as my mind turned to Edward, I was content. I laced my fingers together behind my head and lay down. It would have been easy to dwell on dark places, horrible thoughts. But for two weeks I had managed to stave off the worst of them, and was determined not to let my pessimistic mind ruin the calm that had significantly settled over the entire island.

Edward, with his mess of bronze hair and deep, thoughtful eyes, had been easy to love from the beginning. So easy. I'd always felt like destiny had meant for us to come together. He was the humanity I had been missing my entire existence. And after the strange, ill-fitting memories of late, I believed it might have been true of my human life as well. It was hard not to delve back into those memories, to wonder further why the timelines didn't match up.

But I didn't. And that was for Jasper. Because he needed to feel good, too.

So I concentrated on Edward.

I thought of that first time we were together, only a breath away from the moment I tore myself from the only thing that had ever felt right to me. The Cullens didn't want to leave me, and Jane and Demetri were coming for them. I'd been desperate for them to run.

That had been my first experience with the power of love. The Cullens, all of them, wanted to save me, and they barely knew me. It had been a strange force, and nearly wrecked me.

He came to me silently. I knew when he entered the room. I always knew. I could feel him, even before I could smell the delectable taste of him on my lips. I tried to argue against the feeling rising in my chest. I told him I was a monster, but he only smiled. Lord knows he's as stubborn as I am.

Then he pulled me against his marble body and kissed me. At first, it was just enough so I could feel the incredible smoothness of his lips. He smiled for half a second, before I could stand it no longer and pushed back against him. The passion heated as my lips parted, and Edward tasted me. The intoxicating venom caused me to growl softly when I met his tongue with my own. It had been all wrong, but so amazingly perfect at the same time. I felt Edward's need and it fueled my own. There was no going back once I had him in my arms.

After the love making, the stolen virginity, I cut him low, and he ripped a piece of his chest away in offering to my lies. He'd known how I felt. You can't hide the kind of connection we had, and not just on the sexual level. From the second I laid eyes on him, I loved him. And he knew it. But he let me throw it away.

Thank God the man had sense enough to come after me.

I was aware of the gentle smile on my face as the brightness of day faded. The colors that were so vibrant began to dull in the failing light, blending into a monotony of dark, graying hues. It was like an old friend wrapping me in familiar arms. I was after all, inherently a creature of the night.

It was a long time after dusk that the boys found me. While Jasper threw himself down, Felix monkeyed up a tree, linked his knees over a lower branch, and flipped himself upside down like a bat. A _real _vampire, at last. We laughed at the misconstrued tales of our kind told through the ages. When we wound our way back to the ruins, we were considerably lighter.

"I think tomorrow I'll get something for Emmett," I said as we strolled up the slight incline.

"And what were you thinking?" Felix asked, his tone easy.

I was thinking of the divine shoes he' had made for me. The waters around here were teeming with sharks, and I recalled that the Blue Shark had an amazing color. So, I told them of my plans for the following day. Felix was naturally excited, having heard Emmett's wild tales of deep sea fishing. Jasper pursed his lips unhappily. I never knew why he seemed to be so against fishing, as open as he was with feeding from animals. But I didn't have a chance to ask him.

Suddenly, a cool chill ran straight through me. I would have sworn it was Jasper's empathic influence, except he shivered at the same time Felix and I did. The uneasiness that we'd been evading all day swept over the entire island like ice dripping down our spines. We slowed our pace, becoming aware of every sound around us.

The closer we came to the caldera at the center, the harder it was to continue. And it was hardly surprising when Felix came to an abrupt stop in front of me. I ran right into his broad, muscular back with a hard thud that pushed the air from my lungs.

"Something's wrong," he hissed, like he didn't even feel me.

I smelled the air tentatively. There wasn't any sign of things being out of place. I couldn't hear the sound of a human heartbeat, so aside from the animals, we were still alone, right? What could be wrong?

Ducking my head around Felix's arm, I peered around him, staring at the ruins. It was like I was waiting for something to jump out from behind the crumbling statues. But my senses found nothing. I looked to Jasper, standing to my right. He was concentrating hard on the buildings. I was waiting for him to tell me Felix was insane, but he didn't.

"It's another vampire," he said after a moment.

It seemed unbelievable. My senses told me nothing was there. But beyond that, _was_ there something else?

Yes. It was in the very elements of the air. But why would the instincts I fully relied on be failing me now?

With a quick movement, I shot out from behind the wary men. They were both soldiers, trained to be careful, tactical, but I'd be damned if I'd let anything scare me. So the other patron of the island was a vampire. So what?

I made the short way up the steps in two bounds, Felix and Jasper at my heels. With a loud bang, the wooden door snapped against the wall behind it. I took a step over the threshold and stopped. My breaths came fast and shallow as I looked over the darkened room. A flicker of light caught my eye from beneath the closed door. Someone was there.

Jasper reached forward and grabbed my elbow with an intense pressure. When I looked at him, he shot me a cautionary glance, but we knew it was really too late. I'd already carelessly announced our presence when I barged into the house.

I shook him off and stepped to the door. It pushed open easily, bathing us in the sudden glow of candle light. The door led to a library stocked full of first edition copies of many classic works. We hadn't even opened it when we'd stopped in earlier in the evening.

The vampire sat in an aged leather chair, only the top of his dark hair visible over the high back. But I knew who it was instantaneously. And it wasn't just because I saw that familiar top hat sitting next to him.

When I walked in the room my senses reacted immediately, almost drawing me forward. My steps didn't even feel like my own. They were slow, clumsy, just like they'd been in the haunting memories I'd been having. I felt like I was walking in one of them as I moved. Jasper and Felix stopped at the door, probably deducing who was in the chair as quickly as I had, but I couldn't pause, like I didn't even have a choice.

I heard the sound of thin, aged paper rustle, and an old leather binding creak closed. And he stood, a slow, elegant movement, shadowed by dancing candle light. Far from eerie, it was a magnificent sight as the tall man turned with ageless grace.

Every bit as handsome as I remembered from the only time we'd truly met, he settled his dark intensity on me right away. A smile slid over his face, and I tried very hard not to let my attraction cloud my judgment. He wasn't supposed to be here.

That's when the anger took hold. Suddenly furious, the blaze of my emotions creeped in around the edges of my eyesight.

"What the fuck?" Felix was the first to come up with any verbalization.

"Buona sera." His Italian was a soft hum tinted with a Slavic accent, but it was inviting.

More so than I would have liked.

He stepped around the chair, walking toward us confidently. All we could do was let him come.

Sensing my actions before I moved, Jasper made to grab my arm and Felix shot me a worried glance, but I moved away from them to meet him.

"Mr. Tepes," I said in tentative greeting.

He took my offered hand, sending a cool shiver of misplaced recognition through me. His lips touched the back of it with a gentle, if not lingering, formality. I'd hate to admit the truth of the way that soft greeting rushed right to my center causing an instant of aching, before I snapped the emotion back.

What was my problem? Jasper was standing less than two feet behind me. I dredged my shield back into place and took a deep breath.

"What are you doing here?" I finally demanded. Then, I looked at the century old novel still gripped in his other hand. "And what the hell are you reading?"

**A/N: Reviews are awesome! Leave me one for both chapters!**


	14. The Count and Montecristo

**Well, in the wise words of Dorothy, "There's no place like home!"**

**I am so...exstatic to be back in the good ol US of A...even if it is freezing. My vacation was an adventure and made me truly appreciate everything I have. There is definately a story from my experiences, but I'm not sure if that's fanfic material, although it is borderline horror...at least the traffic in the DR and the airport parts. A bit of advice: 1. Don't travel long distances with two children under the age of 4. 2. Don't fly American Airlines...seriouly. **

**As always, a big shout out to Gondolier who beta'd this before I left, and to every one who's reviewed. I won't be responding to those I recieved while gone, but I read each one, and I was truly pleased to see them filling my inbox when I got home. Thank you to all my readers. You have no idea how much they meant to me after I spent the last two days stuck in the Miami airport. (Stupid rain in Dallas delayed EVERYONE!!!)**

**Ok, so without further adieu...  
**

**Chapter 13**

**The Count and Montecristo**

Vladimir laughed, looking instantly guilty. He lifted the book and glanced at the front cover, where embossed in faded gold script on the worn brown leather was an almost sickening title. Felix began chuckling at what he thought was humorous. Catching the look on my face, Felix shut his mouth immediately, and transformed back into the stoic bodyguard. I put all of my attention back on Vlad.

"What are you doing here?" It came out an angry hiss, provoked at remembering such disgusting things, and wiped the charming smile from his face instantly.

He cleared his throat, and I was pleased I had the ability to discomfort the man who'd made me completely unnerved in my own mind for the past few weeks.

"A vacation," he finally said slowly, dramatically. It was very hard to disregard the inviting tone he had. "I'd made reservations a few weeks ago. That was what brought me to Volterra."

Plausible, but not enough.

"And where is Edward?" Nice. Demanding is better than breathless.

"They are researching the locals I would assume. My brother Stefan is seeing to their needs." I couldn't discern the look that shadowed his face because it was gone too quickly. I swallowed hard forcing anything beside my irrational irritation back inside.

Then, he smiled sincerely as he waited for a response. I couldn't help but notice his eyes never looked away. He only saw me. It could be that I was technically the leader, despite my companions being much more imposing. But this was heavy enough to be something more.

I realized I had a hard time focusing on anything if I let my gaze settle on his for too long and forced my eyes back to the book forgotten in his hand. It had been what initially piqued my anger, not actually seeing Vladimir.

In golden embossed script, was scrawled in German: _An Experiment in Creationism by Joham Deter._

He followed my gaze. "I was curious." The chuckle that followed was forced, nervous.

The abhorrence of vampiric literature – horror passing for science – was familiar, though I'd never read it myself. Felix had quoted it for a decade straight, which was undoubtedly why he saw the amusement now. But I could find nothing to laugh about. When I thought of the hundreds of women tortured for Joham's sick experiments, my insides knotted. I'd always thought of myself as a monster, and wasn't sure how I felt sharing the status with someone like Deter.

The book told of Joham's seduction and impregnation of human females. Basically, detailing at length the torture and inevitable death of woman after woman. At the time of the printing, none of his "experiments" gestated longer than four or five days before the human broke, and the mutation was naturally aborted. And rightfully so, I thought.

The Volturi had been well aware of him since he began his experimentations in the mid eighteenth century and he'd remained gossip for the last hundred and fifty years. The brothers had never intervened because Joham hid deep in the jungles of South America where his form of scientific research was conducted in relatively unpopulated areas. That, and success in his endeavor would have opened a slew of possibilities for them.

There was a tingling behind my ear and I swiped at it, ignoring the fact that it didn't stop, rather, it moved to the front of my skull. I brought my fingertips up to start gently massaging my frontal lobe and Vladimir's lips curled into a smile. This man made me uneasy, even when I wasn't absorbed in some dark corner of my mind with him.

"Your friends have made me their postman," he finally said lightly in attempts to clear the rising tension. "I have letters from your loved ones."

"I'd like to see them." Hell, I _needed _to see them. It had been a rough couple of weeks, and Jasper, redirecting my emotions back into the room for everyone to experience, immediately shifted with anticipation.

"Of course," Vlad answered in his naturally light tone, letting his shoulders dip into a small bow. "Would you like me to retrieve them?"

"No." I didn't want to let him out of my sight while trapped on this island. No matter how handsome the vampire was, I wouldn't want him sneaking up behind me. And, given the lack of response by my senses earlier, he would undoubtedly be able to. "Felix, run down to the dock and grab them."

Felix nodded and the Romanian told him they were on the desk in the cabin. He spoke, voice full of trust and with no hesitation. As soon as Felix strutted from the room with a slanted glance in my direction, Vlad invited Jasper and I to sit. A graceful host, dominating the room though this was not his home.

When we were settled, he gave me a sly smile. "I am grateful for this opportunity," he said. "I've heard so much about you, and I must admit, the stories make me curious."

"Curious?" I asked. "In the same way you would be curious about Joham Deter's 'creationism'?"

The widened eyes reminded me momentarily of the look that crossed the eyes of my prey just before I sank my teeth into them, but again he managed to wipe it away so quickly I really wondered what the hell I'd seen. His smile never faltered.

"I think you might find him enlightening," he said with a cool undertone to his words.

"Doubtful."

"Really?" A dark eyebrow rose skeptically. "He alludes that it has actually happened before, that a vampire and a human _can_ procreate."

"Where's the evidence?" Jasper's skepticism was thick, and he leaned forward a bit in his chair.

Vladimir cleared his throat. "I believe, when the time is right, the truth will be revealed."

That seemed like a loaded answer to a direct question. Too heavy, and it made me nervous.

"Then we'll wait until that time comes." Oh god. I was turning into an actual diplomat.

The man across from me smirked. He had the look of a half-mad zealot on the brink of a debate about theology, but the fire in his red eyes shone with logical intelligence. I found myself enthralled just by watching the tiniest inflections of his face as he spoke. While he tried so hard to remain emotionless, I could almost see the battle raging inside to keep up the charade. It only made his mystique call me closer.

"But, what I am dying to know is how it came, the fall of the Volturi." Like sweet warm sunshine, his voice penetrated my cold flesh. Was he intentionally trying to dazzle me?

"Don't piss her off, and you'll never have to find out," Jasper joked.

I shot him a look, but Vlad laughed aloud. "Amazing," he breathed between chuckles, and though I hardly liked drawing attention to that dark day, I smiled despite myself. Immediately I fought the pride back to replace it with guilt. It was nothing to be proud of.

"Hardly," I was finally able to reply. "It was monstrous-"

"Necessary," Jasper murmured under his breath.

"Horrific-"

"Courageous-"

"Completely appalling-"

"Absolutely brill-"

"Jasper!" I interrupting his running commentary, which was ridiculously glorifying something I was still ashamed had happened. I turned my eyes back to Vlad with a small sigh. "I wouldn't call losing one's temper brilliant strategy."

"Ah, but I'd have to disagree." The eyes swirled black and red as they caught mine. "Some of the best decisions are made in anger."

"And some of the worst." I felt compelled to state the obvious, but Vladimir was still smiling, and now I was locked to his gaze all over again.

"Tell me, Isabella, do you guard your feelings, now?" He asked me, with head tilted slightly downward casting shadows to envelope most of it.

Neither of us missed Jasper's intake of air as he waited for me to answer. Because he knew. He could feel my lack of control now.

I had been in control of myself for the last ten years. Mostly. Of course there had been slips, but I had stayed grounded, happy, in the decade following my atrocity. That could probably be attributed mainly to Edward. Earlier, when I had seen Vlad standing in this library, it had been the closest I'd come to letting my fury take hold since that fateful day. And even in the tense moment, I had still been in control of that specific emotion. It was the others that I'd had a hard time reining back. Particularly since I started seeing this man in my mind.

Between Jasper's reaction and the question itself, I was suddenly aware that I was fooling no one but myself. The things my body felt-was still feeling- alluded to an entanglement of immoral and corruptive instincts. They were simply things I couldn't stop; no matter how determined I was to ignore them.

I had to say something. Both of them were staring at me; Jasper feeling me trying to sort the stream of emotions slamming through my veins. Vlad was simply staring, and it was his gaze I couldn't tear myself from. Even as I spoke.

"I don't know."

I was surprised at how truthful I was, shocked that I'd given the information so willingly, after trying to keep it from him only moments ago. But the compulsion to tell him had been too hard to deny.

He was so close that I could taste him on my tongue and remember his familiar scent from scenes playing out as our connection intensified. I could almost see the ghosts of the same memories glint behind those staring crimson eyes.

"That is a viable response," he eventually granted.

Unbelievably, I moved forward, at the exact same instant as he did, until our faces were only a foot apart. Jasper shifted uncomfortably, but I couldn't look away.

"Admitting we are powerless to our instincts is a step toward overcoming them," Vlad continued eloquently. It almost reminded me of Carlisle.

"I wouldn't say Bella is powerless," Jasper interjected.

Like a thin sheet of paper tearing apart, Vlad's eyes severed from mine at last. He sent a cold glare at my golden-haired companion. The iciness permeated the air around us, and I held in the shivers that attempted to snake up my spine.

"The entire world knows she is not." The Romanian's tone was hard, almost cruel as if he'd been personally offended. "I mean, to excise control over those instincts grants her the ability to overcome her inefficiencies. She must control what could control her. Use it before it uses her. Therein lies the benefit of domination."

I could feel Jasper struggling to remain calm, and failing. No doubt our dark stranger could sense it, too. A perfectly wicked smile crossed his face, just as Jasper snapped.

"So, Bella should hone her skills so she can kill at will, then? And what benefit comes from that? What sick form of betterment could possibly be achieved by annihilating your entire coven?"

Vladimir was as shocked as I was, both of us implicated by his words, but Vlad hid it much better. I could only see it peek from behind that carefully placed mask of calm behind his eyes. Those bloodied orbs of intensity sparked at Jasper's accusations.

"Don't speak of things which you couldn't understand," Vlad seethed through grinding teeth. The flash of anger from the look he sent to Jasper was every bit as menacing as his namesake.

Jasper sensed the threat. Not from what was said, but by what remained unspoken. With a blinding movement, he was on his feet, facing down the foreign antagonist. Vladimir and I made it to ours an instant behind him, as Jasper bent into a low, anticipatory crouch.

"Then, please," Jasper bellowed, all sense of amiability spinning off at an alarming rate. "_Enlighten us._"

Thankfully, Felix chose that moment to rush back into the room. Undoubtedly he'd heard the argument escalating, but he'd surely felt it as well. Jasper was less in control of his emotions than I'd ever seen him; his tension was undeniable. All I could offer was a hand to calm him, but it was not the right decision to make.

As soon as my fingertips touched the smooth muscle of his forearm, his empathetic skill sent scores of waves crushing into me. Hatred, anger, hunger and rage slammed into my psyche, and I battled against its effects. If I let this emotional torrent take me, there'd be no hope from any of them.

There was enough time to feel the switch from my feelings to Jasper's before I was engulfed. Hard, red, sharp, Jasper's anger swirled outward. A low warning rumbled in his throat raising the hair on the back of my neck. Astonishingly, Vladimir stepped forward, his eyes darting in anticipation. The slow movement was anything but cautious. He was goading Jasper, daring him to attack.

Felix huffed out a deep breath, and I caught sight of him in my peripheral. He, too, was hunched, ready to move, instincts absorbing his mind (not difficult with someone who is always at the ready.) Anger spurred anger until it spun from all of us, flying out of control, compounding one emotion into the next. Animosity pulsed out like heartbeats, and Jasper's blind rage built, stacking layers of snarling, snapping fury on top of each other.

Books began to shudder on the dozens of shelves in the library, as the sensations took substance. Jasper was feeding it to us and in return, we were magnifying it with our own. It became impossible to think of anything aside from piercing the Romanian's throat with my sharp teeth. But something tickled at the front of my head, just underneath my skull. My shield.

While caught in the amassing walls of emotions, I hadn't noticed it coiling, winding tighter and closer as the attack grew imminent. The force behind it mounted steadily with Jasper's growing spiral of illogical rage.

And then, Felix shook his head, and leaped in front of Jasper like a bullet from a gun. With no words to accompany the scowl on his face, Felix held up three thick ivory envelopes in front of Jasper's pale and drawn face. The one on top clearly had his name written in pretty, flowing script, obviously written in Alice's meticulous handwriting. As soon as he spied it, Jasper relaxed, the air around him rippling slightly as his usual complacent demeanor seeped back in. He grabbed the envelope, gracefully rubbing his thumb over his name as if it danced over Alice's skin.

With emotions back in check, I composed myself quickly. I hated to do it to them both, but I had no other options. Whatever made me shiver when I looked at Vlad seemed to have a somewhat harsher affect on my friend. "Go with Jasper to get some air."

"But I don't need air," he protested, voice bordering whine.

It only took one look to make his jaw snap closed, and with dutiful resignation, he turned and followed the retreating Jasper from the room. Before he closed the door, he flicked his wrist and an envelope, my name delicately written in the same black ink as Jasper's, soared through the air and landed at my feet. Without a word, he disappeared into the blackness beyond the honey-colored door.

Knowing they'd stay close, I transferred my eyes back to Vladimir, just as he was bowing low to retrieve the ivory treasure. In a smooth, graceful movement, he grabbed the letter and held it out for me.

I had a moment of hesitation, an instant when I couldn't reach forward. I was locked by those glowing red eyes that saw through me, and my damn hand wouldn't rise. I didn't have time to work through the logistics of it all. It was too much just concentrating on bringing my arm high enough to grab the parchment from between those long fingers.

"Isabella?" His tone was wondering, his smile sweet. Like sticky, saccharine, I lapped it into a grin of my own. Like my best friend hadn't almost beheaded him seconds ago.

So I took it, finally, carefully avoiding coming into contact with his flesh that had burned me with its cold and sent me spiraling into memories the last time I'd felt it's icy chill.

I caught Vlad's crimson eyes again. He was wearing the smirk on his red lips again, exposing a pointed smile. The jovial look playing on his face, streaking through his ancient pallor, gave life to his swirling eyes. And, just like that I was gone, unaware of anything. I was swallowed in a memory that took every single one of my senses from reality. I knew what it was, having dealt with this for two long weeks, but part of me, the part I didn't want to admit existed, didn't care on fucking bit.

Suddenly, my skin was like a warm breeze, caressing undead flesh like a silk curtain, soft and gentle. The strong scent of wood and char and death flooded my nostrils, but it was thick enough to coat my tongue with the acrid textures of mortality. My sight was the last to adjust to the memory pressing in on me.

A haze rippled out from Vlad's olive pallor. Almost like heat rising from pavement, the dark aura shimmered and rose out from him. Had I not been focusing so closely on him, I wouldn't have seen it. The waves lifted from his skin, slowly at first. Then, the silent explosion happened, and not from behind as I'd anticipated. The haze erupted from Vlad, and enveloped everything in my line of sight. All that remained was the shadowed Romanian.

I focused harder on him. Molten lava flared in his eyes and his mustache rose when the smile widened, exposing his pointed teeth. They were brilliantly white, like fresh snow.

Dangerous.

_Thrilling_.

Leaning slightly forward in a completely relaxed stance, Vlad's eyes penetrated me. I could feel them slicing inside, seeing everything I'd ever tried to hide, and everything I didn't even know I had hidden. A sharp tug shook in my head, and my shield pulled away. Not like I'd lowered my defenses, rather like it had never been there in the first place. Exposed, entirely at his mercy, and surrounded by the darkness radiating from him, I stared at Vladimir Tepes. Tall, thick, with a strong jaw and coal black hair, it became impossible to look away.

And as my shield vanished, Vlad's smirk turned soft, his eyes lightening as they stared into mine. Now, the color of a bloodied sunrise, they looked at me with emotions I'd only seen whispers of.

"_I think they're on to us."_

His mouth didn't move.

"_She isn't happy about it."_

I told him I didn't care. My mouth never opened, but I heard it echoing in my own ears. I was in the memory. Real life had vanished. I was thoroughly inside my head. These _were _my memories, no matter how impossible it was to align with what I knew.

"_There's no sense in hiding if they know," _I told him._ "Let's not hide anymore."_

I leaned forward, closer.

A roar echoed from far away, followed by the echoes of splintering glass and crushing boulders. I didn't know if it was here or there, but Vlad winced and his pain was all that mattered.

"_What's the matter?" _

He glanced away at something beyond him. He was the only thing I could see and he wasn't going to tell me anything.

"_What's wrong!" _I shouted. Panic laced in the disembodied echoes of my voice.

My hands slammed into the hard flesh of his chest. The hollowness inside him was as deafening as the speeding echoes of a long dead heart pounding inside me. The blood in my human body responded to the contact, surging at the icy tingle of his cold skin.

Small fists pounded against him two more times before his long white fingers moved to encircle my wrists. Dark shadows appeared around the contact, as his inhuman grip pressed into soft flesh with too much force. His eyes bored into me.

"_It's not safe."_

The words bounced around in my mind; it felt as though I was trying them on like clothing, becoming enraptured with the way they fit. I smiled back at him, my lips curling in a sure line. I liked it, feeling dangerous.

Vladimir read my expression. His face fell.

"_I have to protect you. I can't let anything happen to you."_

I looked at him. Really looked at him, not really knowing if I was seeing him as he was then or as he was now, and finding that I didn't care. My fingers unclenched, pulling the rest of the tension out as they opened.

"_I don't need protection." _

The whole scene was suddenly soft, comfortable, tender. Unlike the others, this memory wasn't seeped in blood and death and sex. However, what was different was infinitely more destructive.

Vladimir looked agonized, then confident, as I knew him to be. He shifted slightly, only enough to come a millimeter closer, but it was markedly more intimate. My senses were consumed by the musky cinnamon flavor.

"_But I __**need**__ to protect you."_

One of my hands fell as his long finger reached to my face and slid slowly from my temple to chin where he hesitated for a moment longer than a heartbeat. The trail of goose bumps receded and there was only the spot of ice where his finger paused.

Blinking, I stared into him, feeling the weight of his meaning, and the darkness began to swirl in at the edges of my vision, again cementing the fact that it wasn't actually happening. But I wasn't ready to let it fade yet.

"_Vladimir,"_ murmured the memory of myself.

My raised hand fell flat on his chest. The icy shards of contact swirled everywhere, breaking the vision. Then, he was leaning into me, hazy, fading, and like a magnet I moved in, too, ready to ensnare his lips with mine. And this kiss would not mirror the others I'd relived from this past I couldn't remember. It was too saturated in the saccharine of love.

The darkness flooded over my vision, cutting the memory away and I was back plunged back into reality. We were standing exactly as we had been, close, my hand against the smooth planes of his chest, and him leaning forward, close enough to taste.

He whispered a name, breath cool when it brushed my lips.

It wasn't Isabella.

**A/N: So, the bad news is I only wrote like 2 paragraphs in the last three weeks, so there is no impending update. Oh, and more bad news: it might take me awhile to recover from this. I think I lost my mojo...**

**There is no good news...except that I'm home. **

**I do like reviews though...and trust me, I'll take every bit of happiness I can get. The last two days were very miserable.  
**


	15. Mysteries

**Twilight belongs to someone other than me. As always, big shout out to the Beta Supreme, Gondolier, who totally got this back before her hiatus. I don't think she knows how much I miss her already! **

**If you read this the first time I posted, I wanted to apologize for the substandard work. I noticed so many glaring errors and mistakes with the flow of the conversation, and I had to fix it up. My humblest apologies. I only made minimal changes, so feel free to wait for the next update. I just thought this worked a bit better. **

**Chapter 14**

**Mysteries**

The words slipped from my mouth as the haze dissolved around me. They were out before I could even stop myself.

"What did you say?"

That same damn spark flashed through his human-fed eyes, but it was quick enough to cause me to doubt that I had even seen it there. Was I going insane? Was any of it really happening? Whether I was in his presence or not, Vladimir seemed to have some kind of pull over my mind that up until a few weeks ago had belonged to me alone.

I swallowed hard as his lips curled into his feline grin.

"I was commenting that your friend has little control over his emotions," he answered immediately. Maybe he hadn't even noticed my momentary slip. But I had to admit t notion made me feel little better. Even if he hadn't realized I'd dozed off, the actual content of the daydream left a bittersweet taste on my tongue. The other times I had the lapses from reality they'd been filled with blood, sex, and lust. This was different, and therefore more central, harder to cast away. This time, I'd felt something that had the power to break me and the entire life I'd been striving toward.

I looked at him, willing myself to remain focused, not to let his charm lull me into a false sense of security. Now _there_ was something real to fear.

"Jasper is a good friend," I said, putting myself back into a conversation that seemed a lifetime away.

"There is no doubt of that. The way he reacted was pure." Vlad stopped, musing to himself. "You have a strong pull over him. I don't think he even knows why he wants so badly to protect you. And he is not the only one."

Vladimir reached forward with the ivory envelope that had fallen from my fingers when the memory took hold.

"This one would stop at nothing if he thought he was protecting you." Edward's letter felt rough and fibrous against my fingertips as I gaped at the Romanian prince, trying to grasp what he was saying.

Slowly, he leaned closer, soft exhales coated with cinnamon brushing my open mouth, shivered across my tongue. His coal hair fell forward in a delicate frame of his iridescent olive pallor.

"Could it be even you do not know the range of your gifts?" he spoke into my stunned silence.

I pulled back a little in an effort to diffuse the lingering haze in combination with the too sweet taste of him. It threatened to pull me right back into the morbid fantasy, and I had no desire to repeat it. It was already chiseling away at my subconscious. I inhaled deeply, holding it in, and thought instead of Edward. Soft, musky, and _Edward. _I concentrated on bronze hair, sharp intellect, sexy wit, all the reasons Edward had more of me than any man I'd ever encountered while I traced circles over the envelope.

"I'm well aware what I'm capable of," I told him, forced by the conviction of my love. It took effort to keep my voice from fluctuating and reveal how much I was affected by him. "But I'd hardly call friendship an 'ability.'"

Vlad's head dipped back and he let out a throaty laugh. I crossed my arms and waited for the unexpected amusement to turn to an explanation.

"You never thought it odd at everyone's capacity to love you at first sight?"

"If I interpret you correctly, then believe me when I tell you that your powers include the strongest form of influence I have ever experienced. It goes far beyond what your friend is capable of controlling. And that is in addition to the shield you use to protect yourself."

"You detect power?" I wondered aloud. I remembered the way I detected the tingling sensations behind my mind directly before I slipped into the memory.

His amusement gathered into a sly smile. "Of course."

The chill that sped up my spine was hard to place. I'd never stopped for one second in my life to ponder whether I had more than just my shield at my disposal. But Eleazar should have known. Wasn't that exactly the reason he had been among the Volturi elite; for his ability to hone in on the talents of others? Then there was who'd Aro shown little more than ill disguised contempt for me. And Caius…well he was something else all together.

"I'm not sure," I finally muttered under my breath as I sorted through a million past acquaintances, looking for patterns previously hidden.

Almost immediately, Vlad countered, "Not even Eleazar could pick up on it, then?"

Struck that his thoughts were close to those running through my own mind, I played dumb.

"You forget that I knew him. All of them. Eleazer, Aro, Caius, Marcus."

Shaking out of the stupor, I answered, "I knew that. They lived in Romania for a time."

He nodded, eyes trapping mine again. "I knew the Volturi coven very well. In fact, Sulpecia was the one to change my brother and me. They lived with us until they mated with the Volturi. Did you know that?"

I swallowed hard. "Yes. I think I'd heard it before."

"Then you must also know Sulpecia and Athendora were the last survivors of the original vampires?"

I nodded tentatively.

Dark, dulcet tones echoed around the room as he continued. "I'd spent an entire human existence hunting for the mysteries of Atlantis. All that knowledge decimated years before my birth in the fires of Alexandria! But snippets remained, and I searched diligently for what I could. I had to seek the promise from the centuries of old."

He paused, taking me in with his eyes, holding me captive by them. "There was so much darkness to the world during that time, Isabella. So much hate and anger and fear. I was not scared of anything – not war, not famine, not bloodshed – but, you see, I was scared of death. I wanted to outwit it, even as a child. I'd heard the tales of the immortals. _And I wanted it._"

He whispered the last, sending shivers swirling up my spine again. I'm sure he noticed the infinitesimal flinch this time and his knowing smile froze me in place.

"I can't imagine what might have been had _fate_ not intervened in my existence."

Vladimir held me, until I finally had to look away. His breathing sharpened but I didn't want to look back at him. Something was different. Where before he seemed to be guarding his feelings behind the carefully constructed mask, he now displayed it openly, and the reality of it was both harsh and easy to succumb to.

"Fate directs us in everything we do," he continued, leaning forward slightly. "It's what propels us through an otherwise meaningless existence."

The fate thing caught me off guard. I wasn't sure I bought into all that. On one hand I could have avoided becoming the monster I am, the person I'd struggled with every single day of my existence; and on the other, I would never have met my Edward. I couldn't imagine that life.

When I didn't answer, he continued the story in matter-of-fact tones, like he hadn't just been talking about something else.

"That's when Sulpecia found me, at my last end, ready to cave to the madness, to admit to being nothing more than mortal. It was years before I could convince Stefan to follow, but eventually he did. Together, we began raising our own coven, stronger than any that had ever been before. And the sisters were our constant advisors through those long years."

His casualness shocked me. The Romanian coven had turned the world in to a haunted, foreboding place. Human children still lay under their covers at night, quaking in fear over the stories spawned by its murderous past. And he spoke of it the way a textbook might recall the Ming Dynasty.

"But why?" I asked him because I had to know. I couldn't agree with everything the brothers did during their reign, but Vlad's methods had been horrific. I took me a second to form the words, but I finally pushed them out, only choking a little at the end. "Why do what you did?"

Vladimir laughed deep and full. "With fear comes respect, _Isabella_." It still sounded like he was emphasizing my name. "And, above all else, I demanded that."

"I can understand that part," I told him somewhat hesitantly. I had used fear myself. I just couldn't grasp where the impaling of thousands of people fell into that. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like genocide.

He changed the subject before I could finish my thought. "How did Marcus fair?"

"Marcus?" I asked, being caught off guard by his thoughts again. "What about him?"

This time Vladimir's emotions were plain across his countenance, and all his former enjoyment faded into a raw sadness. His deep red eyes stared into mine, forcing me to feel his sincerity.

"He was as good a man as ever existed. I consider myself lucky to have known him."

"I feel the same," I admitted. "Although, I didn't even know until it was too late."

"Tell me," he said, voice low and probing.

"At the end, Marcus was the one who saved me," I whispered, not sure why I was doing so. "He lit the fires so I could get out. I should been crushed by the force of the tower."

Vladimir closed his eyes from me, but I found myself only somewhat relieved at the loss of the contact. The deep familiar orbs called to me from beneath the purpled lids. He took two long breaths before opening them again.

"Did you know he loved a human?" He asked in a voice almost too low to be heard.

Stunned, I said, "Didyme was human?"

Vlad nodded minutely. "She was the reason they came to Romania," he whispered.

I couldn't believe it. The shock was blatant on my face, and he smiled. This time it was soft and confidential. Like he was swinging an arm over my shoulders.

"When the brothers came to my land, they sought protection. Remember that they'd just finished ridding the world of the curse of the immortal children. What they wanted to hide was considered the worst abomination yet. It went against everything they'd achieved to that point. At least to everyone, aside from Marcus and his mortal bride."

When he stopped to take a deep breath, I couldn't help but ponder his words, running them over and over. Something was telling me lad was disclosing something major but was dancing around the specifics.

"Though utterly disgusted, his brothers loved Marcus enough not to fight him. They needed him and his wife if they were to gain the influence they desired. They were all incredibly gifted. But what they couldn't have was the world knowing their might was unsound. Not after everything they'd thought they'd accomplished."

I couldn't help but urge him to continue. I'd never heard any part of this story in any history lesson. "What were they hiding?"

My mind flashed to the book he'd been reading when we first entered the monastery. Vladimir sighed loudly and I was almost convinced for a moment that he wouldn't go on. But eventually he did, still not directly answering my question and steering me away from the answers I desired.

"They came to me, knowing my bloody past, asking me to finish it for them. But Marcus knew; he understood the evil of which his own brothers were capable. He tried to flee with his wife. It was just too late." Bloodied eyes shimmered haunted with tears that would not fall. Instead, remorse spilled over the tension in the room. It was thick enough to feel weighing down the humid island air. "To think I had actually considered doing it, destroying _her_." He closed his eyes again, and this time kept them hidden. "She was a miracle in a black world. And, finally, there was a pinprick of hope, a shred of light in the darkest of days."

"Who' was she?" I urged.

Vladimir hesitated again before going on. It was now impossible to tell if it was because he wanted to keep those secrets, or only to keep them from me.

"Are you married?" Why was he avoiding my questions?

I shook my head. Marriage wasn't something I'd truthfully considered. Edward wanted me for his bride, I supposed, but if I was honest, matrimony still scared me. I didn't feel worthy of him, so I kept myself closed the few times he'd brought it up. It wasn't about spending the rest of existence with Edward, because I wanted to do nothing else. It was admitting that he wanted me enough to make that kind of commitment. My brain couldn't wrap around it. I was still waiting for him to discover something about my past and bolt. Just because it hadn't happened yet, didn't mean it wouldn't.

"Were you?" I questioned back. I'd keep digging until he finally gave me something concrete. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of knowing the madman who came to be known as Dracula. Temptation was just too strong. I had to know.

A rueful look shadowed over him for a second and he tore his eyes from mine. "I was married once," he admitted softy. "But that was long ago."

Scenes from the misplaced memories flashed through my mind in rapid succession. Was I bearing witness to some age old love that was no longer? Did he have further abilities beside the one he'd admitted that caused me to experience his life? Or was this something else, something I didn't even want to contemplate, because it would surely had the power to change everything I knew about my own existence?

"What happened to you?" I finally whispered, taken aback by the intensity shining from behind his darkening eyes.

He responded by asking the same question back to me.

"What was it that happened to you?" His tone was abrupt, but the answer was easy.

Edward.

Edward had changed everything for me, but I wasn't disclosing that to the man sitting next to me. Not that he didn't guess anyway, as he sat there smiling again with his pointed, bleached white teeth.

"Was it love?" This time his tone was sharp. Sharp enough to twist into my chest, but it was what he said after that felt like a slap in the face. "Was it love that made _you_ weak?"

The mocking, angry tone jarred me and I snarled loudly. Growling ripped through my chest, just as my feet hit the ground with hard thumps as my body flew instinctively into a crouch. The smile on his lips grew wilder and simply menacing.

The door slammed open behind me, and Jasper and Felix were suddenly in place by my side. I wondered if they'd been avoiding the earlier flow of emotions, but there wasn't time to dwell. A red, angry haze swirled in my peripheral.

Vladimir rose slowly with his ancient regal grace. Without breaking the tentative eye contact, he nodded his head in what seemed to be apology. It was clear enough that my wingmen could understand, but then Vlad leaned closer, face hesitating only an inch from mine. I was only partially surprised when my fingers clenched Jasper and Felix's wrists, holding them back as his spicy flavor danced against my tongue. Vladimir finished his statement in a whisper only for me.

"That's what happened to me."

And then he was gone.

I held tightly to Jasper and Felix, letting the admission sink in. Vladimir had been in love, and because I didn't know any different, I thought he'd just had a little jealous fit. Over me and my Edward.

Felix's gruff tone pulled me from my theorizing.

"Should I go after him?"

Moving away from my friends, I cast Jasper a cautious glance. He kept his golden eyes narrowed as he watched me. He spoke measures with the cold stare, and I understood they'd been close enough for him to catch all the random emotions over the past several minutes. I knew I couldn't take any of it back, so I did the next best thing, and ignored it.

I turned to Felix, who just looked confused as he watched the silent standoff between Jasper and myself.

"No," I told him with conviction. "He's not going anywhere."

Jasper moved to block me. His arm stretched out, handing me the letter from Edward. Somehow I'd forgotten it again. He scowled as I took it from him and even when I turned my back and sliced through the delicate paper to retrieve the message inside, I could feel the disapproval spinning from behind. That was difficult to ignore, but once I saw Edward's perfect penmanship weaving over the page in my hands, I found I could tune it out.

_Dear Bella,_

_The Count has asked us to stay on a month longer to help sort through more of the werewolf legends. Surely we can gain even further knowledge with this time at our disposal. I know you'll understand._

_Please send my love to Esme and regards to Jasper. _

_I love you. You are my life._

_Edward_

I stared at it for a minute, then flipped the page over, searching for something more. The back was blank, so I turned it to the front, examining every line over and over until I had it memorized.

Then I looked at Jasper and Felix who had waited patiently for me to finish. I held it halfway toward them.

"That's it?" I asked as if they'd know. "What did Alice say?"

Jasper handed over his letter, littered with Alice's wide scrawl. It said nothing. In fact, change half a dozen words and I was staring at the same letter Edward had written me.

"Doesn't it seem," I paused looking for the exact placement of my words, "a little flat?"

Jasper grimaced, and I saw his reserved behavior pulling away only to be replaced by genuine concern. "It didn't sound like something Alice would write," he told me.

Alice was a gabber. I could hardly see her satisfied with a few meager lines after two full weeks of no contact with her mate. It didn't add up.

Felix started laughing, drawing Jasper's eyes and mine to him.

"They're probably having too much fun rolling with the dogs to spare thoughts of home."

He was immediately doubled over, shoulders rising and falling as he tried to gain some control over his amusement.

"Looks like your lovies won't be coming back as soon as expected," he chuckled on, and then lost himself to another barrage of hysterics at our expense. Always completely out of line.

Jasper caught me with a silent look. The raw nervousness was wasted as my own despair began to swell. No matter what Felix though that was so funny, things were serious here; something definitely wasn't right.

I'd bet my life on it. I looked out the door that Vlad had left wide open in his haste to leave. He was out there listening. I sensed the crimson eyes flashing in the darkness, watching my every move.

I stared down the darkness, imagining him staring back. It was time to think of a plan. It was time to go back to Volterra and drudge up any of the Volturi's journals – the ones that hadn't been destroyed – and see if there was something in them that would reveal anything more into this tale. Vlad's sudden reemergence was making me increasingly on edge. And the familiarity was consuming and compounded by the strange memories. But at that point, there was no way of telling if he was manipulating my mind, or if it was something real. Everything about him was mysterious yet inviting and something told me I hadn't seen anything yet.

**A/N: All I can say is review! They're good for the soul (both yours and mine!)**

**And everyone who was wondering about Edward…yeah, just keep wondering.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	16. Puzzle

**I don't own anything Twilight related.**

**As always shout out to Gondolier. She's off vacationing, so I just winged this. Be gentle. I'll have her pick it over when she gets home. Its an transitional chapter anyways. I just want to keep with my weekly updates.**

**And to my dear friend Kelli who has nothing to do with fan fic, but still helped me clean this up a bit.  
**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**Chapter 15**

**Puzzle**

We made ready to sail immediately. Felix prepared our vessel and Jasper paced somberly back and forth. His footfalls kept a steady rhythm over the boardwalk, lulling me into a hypnotic reflection. It sounded very much the same as my beating heart in the swarm of the recent memories that had been plaguing my mind.

I'd learned an incredible amount from the conversation with Vlad. He'd been more open and honest than I would have dared hope. But the letters from Edward and Alice gnawed away, reminding me that something wasn't right. Still, I felt closer, on the brink. In the mysteries, there was understanding. I just wasn't grasping it all yet.

The points he'd made while speaking flirted with my logic, daring me to piece it together. I had to think that he'd brought up each fact for a specific reason. There seemed to be purpose swimming inside those open eyes.

The morning stretched over from the East until it blanketed the tiny island. It shone off the rolling ocean sending millions of prisms dancing on our exposed skin. For some reason, despite Jasper's constant pacing and Felix's annoying commentary as he made ready to sail, I settled into a somber silence. I stared at the huge black yacht, marveling over its sleek elegance and the fact that it resembled its captain in every way.

Vlad hadn't returned to the monastery after the near melt down; instead he holed up inside his vessel, anchored in the harbor. And he listened and watched. I couldn't see him, but I knew. His presence weighed over my conscious. I was just glad to find my thoughts were my own. My shield was tightly in place and wound around Jasper and Felix as they moved about preparing to leave. I couldn't take any chances of him interfering while I ran through each word, each inflection of tone, as I relived our entire conversation.

The main admission was that he'd set out to destroy something the Volturi couldn't stomach. Vlad had kept silent on the true nature of his past, but he'd revealed enough, in that he was prepared to kill the abomination growing in Didyme. Of course, that was just theory, as he hadn't actually come out and said she was pregnant, but if the shoe fits.The book he'd been reading, the emotion when he spoke of it. And he had loved the child. He didn't have to say it. It was just too impossible for him to hide behind the desire screaming inside his eyes at the merest mention. Naturally, it was all still theory, but I couldn't see any other way to fit it together.

The hardest part was where I figured into this. The visions that had plagued me for the last two weeks had probably started about the time Vlad crawled out from whatever rock his was hiding under. I stared at the black windows on the ship, still dark despite the brightening sky around it. I wanted to hate him. I really wanted to, but there was something that wouldn't let me. And that wasn't something Vlad was controlling. That was some sick, twisted piece of me that got involved as I relieved the memories of someone else's different life.

I still hesitated to call it _my _life.

Not that hesitation stopped me from dwelling.

Say I _was _some kind of mutation from the crossbreeding of a human and a vampire. _What the hell happened after that? _

I thought back to the human memories I'd carried through my existence. They were somewhat faded, but more real than these newer lapses because I'd always had them inside.

I could remember being a child, growing up in France, the utter destruction of an entire city…

It was 1572. I only remember because the date is remembered as a blood massacre in European history to this day. What had been described afterward as escalating conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, was actually a rogue neophyte that went on a rampage across the French countryside. Regardless of religion, he slaughtered and devoured thousands of humans. It had been a very frightening time to be a child.

It was late August, almost my birthday. I remembered that, because my mother had started insisting I wear my hair tied up, instead of loose and wild as I preferred. It was the beginning of my entitled passage into womanhood. I desperately tried to put a face to the woman I clearly remembered arguing with, but it was impossible. My mind kept travelling back to an image of Didyme. But I didn't remember her being in my life until after my change.

There was always a feast in celebration of Saint Bartholomew in the town's square and I had been there along with everyone I'd ever known those few short mortal years. The neophyte caught wind of the festival, spurred into town by the scent of laughter, of life. He tore through every single person. Every last one.

These moments were sharp as anything. I was hidden under a pile of hay. My mother forced me there, throwing straw over me in haste, just moments after the carnage began. I remember crying all alone, smelling the damp hay and knowing my mother would never come back and I was too scared to move. I didn't want _it _to see me. I just wanted to stay hidden forever.

I cowered there even after the terror was replaced and the land started burning. I didn't move an inch until a translucent hand appeared from the black smoke that swirled over the entire countryside. On the end of that abnormally pale and cool arm, was Aro.

From that day on, I lived with the Volturi, ripening for Aro's feast. Sometime later Didyme found me, and after that, managed to stave off Aro's hunger. Until, eight years after the massacre that had ended my human life as thoroughly as death would have, I was poisoned.

Felix called his ready and in a swift motion Jasper jumped over the railing and landed on the boat deck. His impatience was swelling, and the irritation was biting as he watched me climb slowly over the edge and onto the bow. My eyes moved back to the other ship; I could hear the distinctive clank of chains as Vlad raised anchor. He would follow us to Italy.

Our boat started immediately. Huge engines roared awake from their idle and the boat shot off into the open water. Slowly, with sail full of brisk morning wind, Vlad's dark vessel smoothly sailed from port behind us. As long as Felix kept the speed low so I could track Vlad's progress, I could relax. Somewhat.

The yacht rocked through the swells, as I stared at Vlad's ship. Jasper had stopped pacing and was now standing directly in front of me, causing my focus to wander. His towering frame cast a daunting shadow, daring me to look up. I wasn't ready yet. If I had answers, some explanation as to why I was letting myself be sucked into whatever game Vlad was trying to play, but I had nothing. But I was no closer to finding out those answers than I'd been earlier. If anything I was more confused.

Finally, I tore my eyes from the suddenly interesting pattern of the deck. They landed immediately on Jasper's disapproving scowl. I waited for him to say something, to say anything other than stare at me the way he was. I could feel the individual emotions as he searched me over. He was angry, sad, and most of all, let down. I'd shattered a piece of whatever ideal he'dcreated. To say it didn't hurt would be a lie. But the silence was worse.

I finally gave in and opened my mouth. Jasper's accusing head shake was enough to close it again. I didn't know what to say, let alone how to begin, so I took the sharp gesture as a reprieve and went back to watching him, waiting for him to speak.

After a moment, he let out a deep sigh that spoke more about his true feelings than his empathic capabilities. He was scared.

"I want to explain," I said, because the stony expression was tearing me apart. It felt like he was trying to read me the way Edward might. Trying to see what lay on the inside.

I unconsciously felt the strength of my shield, finding it firmly in place around myself and my companions. My own misery was safely locked away from Jasper's probing abilities. He couldn't be sensing anything more than the look of sincerity etched into my expression.

When I didn't elaborate or any further, Jasper finally snapped, "I'm waiting, Bella."

I couldn't stop the groan. "So am I," I admitted heavily, hoping he'd understand the weight of my confusion from those few words.

Jasper only turned around, and resumed pacing.

"Something is very wrong with that man," he finally said after I watched him make a few passes. Then he stopped and turned his stern gaze back to me. "And something is wrong with the way people have been behaving since he's entered the picture."

I had to agree and nodded. His accusation was not lost. He'd meant my recent behavior specifically, but the letter folded neatly in my back pocket spoke volumes about others.

He resumed his pacing after my admittance. I watched as he struggled over what he felt as he walked five feet to the left, turned, and trekked back the exact same distance before repeating. Three and a half steps each way, as his shoes echoed below deck. It was riveting.

When he came to a stop again, I didn't take my eyes from the scuffed pair of shoes. The soles were worn and dirty, and the ends of the laces were frayed where he'd walked over them. Jasper's discretely lazy sense of style had always been closer to my own preferences, and he'd never let Alice go overboard on his wardrobe like Emmett and Edward had. He still felt most comfortable being comfortable. For that, I truly admired him. So, in that moment, I pretended my damndest to be fascinated by those dirty old sneaks.

One of them started tapping as Jasper's irritation began to spin off in waves. They crashed into me, trying to smother me. While I could practice keeping my feelings hidden from Jasper by constantly staying aware of my shield, I hadn't found anyway so far that would keep his raw emotions from slamming into me. It hadn't truly been an issue before. Jasper hadn't tried to use his empathic persuasions against me.

But, the rolling irritation followed by guilt splashed into me again and again until my eyes finally travelled over his relaxed cotton slacks, past the T shirt that had been ultra white when we'd left yesterday, and landed on the demanding golden eyes. They caught mine, as his disapproval swam at me from all directions.

"How do you know him?"

He let the allegation sink in. _How did I know him? _It was the very question I'd been asking myself. Sadly I had nothing to give. I wanted to explain it all away and wipe that hard look from Jasper's face. It tore into me, and I felt like I _had _done something wrong. I _wanted _to confess. The problem was, I had nothing to admit. Not really. A handful of scary day dreams, and an unnerving conversation with the man who'd – and I was going to admit this to myself – scared the shit out of me since as far back as I could remember.

Vladimir Tepes had impaled hundreds of thousands of people.

I rolled that thought through me and looked at Jasper, willing myself to come up with an answer. I hated the angry way his eyes glinted. It made me imagine Edward's, only he'd be much harder to face after this. I felt like I'd committed a horrific sin against him (and his family by default), by just allowing these thoughts to consume me.

The worst part about it was I couldn't help it. I couldn't. It wasn't like I wanted to think of Vlad in the ways I did. I hadn't asked to remember doing those things with a man who was a complete nightmare and be turned on by it. I was an instinctually sexual creature. Just like they were. Wasn't I? Now, Edward's brother was staring me down in attempts to get me to admit it to him.

I was just struggling to open my mouth.

"I don't know him," I finally managed after an eternity of internal struggle. I'm sure Jasper could feel it when I began to crack a little. "But I _remember _him."

My only defense was the truth. And it wasn't easy to tell. I already felt sick and a bit woozy saying that.

Sensing the conflicting emotions Jasper's eyes visibly softened. He only paused a moment before coming to me, crouching low so I could see directly into his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

With a gulp of air that I had to force into my lungs, I told him everything.

The first time, just after Alice had her visitor I had been so consumed with hopelessness that it had knocked me to my knees. My voice wavered when I told him of the woman I had been racing from. At the time I thought the vision had something to do with Alice's.

"'Someone will betray you,'" Jasper recalled, his tone low.

I nodded absently, and continued on. I felt relieved to finally be confiding, and Jasper was truly listening. I recalled the next time. How I felt my heart beating, heard my voice that was so glaringly human. It was hard to get a hold on. After that, they became sexual in nature. And bloody. And the blood spurred the sex creating a vicious cycle of lust. My mind was having trouble differentiating between real life and fantasy.

"It wasn't long before I realized Alice's warning had nothing to do with anything I was experiencing. All this seemed to come from the past. But what does it mean?" I asked, pleading through my eyes for Jasper to see something I couldn't. Having it all out there made me feel less pressure, but it did nothing to dissuade the doubt building in my chest.

I let Jasper feel it, because I didn't want to be alone anymore; because I had to have someone on my side. It was hard trying to shoulder this alone. I felt like I'd never find all the clues and time was ticking by.

Jasper stared right back at me, reading everything I gave him. A flash of understanding zipped through his eyes before he sighed, letting his body fall back onto the deck with a hard thunk.

"Do you think he's causing these fantasies? Does he have that power?" Jasper began mumbling, breaking into the same questions I'd been over myself. Perhaps a fresh look was exactly what I needed.

"He can read other people's abilities," I answered. "Or at least he says so, but I'm not sure how accurate that is."

"But there _is_ something about him," Jasper urged. "I can feel it whenever he's around."

"Still doesn't explain the stupid memories," I told him. "They seemed to have started about the time Vlad resurfaced."

"I think you're right," he agreed, "but what brought him your way in the first place? Was it simple curiosity?"

"Who knows," I groaned. The man was driving me certifiably insane. I knew that much.

"He's far more capable and advanced than he lets on," Jasper continued, ignoring my souring mood.

I was beginning to hate even discussing him. With a glance behind us, I could see the black boat several knots away, but there was no doubt he was coming.

Jasper followed my gaze. "I'd bet we haven't seen but the tip of the iceberg as far as Dracula is concerned."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Jasper snickered at my comment and grabbed my hand without taking his eyes from the yacht trailing behind. "You were supposed to take me shark hunting today," he said a moment later.

I cracked the first smile I'd had since last night. "Well, I would have liked to get something nice for Emmett," I said lightly.

But thinking of the other members of my new life, the smile slid from my lips just as quickly as it had come.

*

Just stepping onto the familiar streets of my city gave me strength and courage that I didn't feel anywhere else in the world. Something about it just made it mine. Grateful for the overcast day inland, I was able to enter above ground and in daylight hours. The familiarity of Volterra's scent pounded through my senses.

The city was alive again. Maybe not at quite the same place it had been, but it was definitely on its way. The combination of healthy heartbeats and fast-paced pulses shuddered throughout the city and serenaded the way to my tower. I could smell the ancient decay, the death. It hung just the tips of perception, but I swallowed it away. I didn't want to waste time focusing on what I'd done to it in the past. It felt too much like my future was at stake.

At the harbor, I had asked Felix and Jasper to escort Mr. Tepes back to Volterra as I ran ahead. I couldn't trust myself to be around him anymore.

Being as fast on my feet as Edward, and five times more intimidating in a race, I sped home eager to find something that might explain it all. And Volterra would have held that knowledge at one time. I just had to figure out what happened to that record and pray that it hadn't burned in the fires.

What I hadn't anticipated as I wove through familiar streets was the destruction that had been my office yesterday morning. It seemed Esme was in the thick of the renovation. It looked like a fire had raged through the place when I entered it that afternoon. Only this was a fire of blue, bright and bold and covering three out of the four walls already. I kind of gaped at the color for a moment, already deciding that when I meant bold and different, this wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind. It seemed too garish, especially coming from Esme.

Thinking of her, I tracked her scent through the office, noting which paths smelled more recent than others. It seemed to have been hours since she'd last been here and only then did I stop to wonder where she was. It wasn't like her to leave a project in this kind of state for so long. She had always been very proficient.

I was about to step from the office to look for her when my cell buzzed in my pocket. I almost didn't answer. I recognized the number right away. I stared as it danced over the sleek screen and flipped it open, raising it to my ear.

"Emmett?"

**A/N: The next chapter gets down and dirty! Pleaseee review!**


	17. A swamp can be a very entertaining place

**None of the Twilight characters are mine!**

**Thanks to Gondolier who always does a wonderful job with the betaing. I felt lost without her!**

**Reviews are amazing, so thanks!**

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**Chapter 16**

**Emmett POV, Part 1**

**A Swamp Can Be a Very Entertaining Place**

The cold stare hit me through narrowed eyes. She was reaching the breaking point, and it wasn't going to be pretty. I needed to do damage control but her lean arms twisted across her chest, and Rose stopped completely. It said nothing about knee high _bog_ on any map and I wasn't the one who pissed of the cabbie. I felt like bring that up, but if Rose heard it again it'd probably be my undoing.

Ah, shit, I knew I was already in for it. Her pretty eyes flashed darker as the buildup of aggravation began to boil. I raised my hands in surrender. "Now, come on, baby – "

"Don't you '_baby'_ me!" she growled.

Uh oh.

I unconsciously pulled back. Barely enough to notice, but Rose was tough as nails. I didn't want to want to receive one of her temper tantrums this late in the day.

"If it weren't for that stupid, no good – "

I grabbed her slender wrist, turned my body away from her and began to walk. She seethed irritation, but the resistance was gone and she began to walk again. She trudged behind me, readying herself to get into it anyway, moving or not. She could have her little rant, but I had to get us out of this godforsaken place.

"We shouldn't be out here," Rosie finally mumbled. Her feet squelched in the thick mud with each slightly slowed step. "We should be in Italy, or Paris, or Forks—not in some godforsaken swamp in the middle of Romania!" Each city we maintained residences was a different step she took. "The rain is better than mud. Everything is better than mud!"

I wanted to stop and soothe her, but it wasn't the time to go all drama and freak out. She was pissed, and I couldn't blame her for that. Hell, I was pissed, but at least I was goal-oriented. And my goal was to get my poor Rose home, to any of them, and out of this fucking wasteland!

Not usually to her disadvantage, Rose was both cold and truthful with her opinions. And in her "opinion," the driver was getting fresh. Not that either of us understood a lick of what he was saying, but when Rose accused him of ogling her endowments, the cabbie spun into a rage, hollering and pointing. I pretty much had to force Rose out of the damn thing.

When I suggested we go it on foot and bypass anymore human encounters, I had no idea what we were headed for.

"Why the hell did I come here! I could be doing my nails!"

I knew she didn't mean it. Well, the nails, maybe, but she knew why she was here. She had just reached the falling off point. Bucharest had been okay, but Rose hadn't liked the crazy ass drivers on pitted streets with no fucking clue how to use their brakes. And the scenic shit had been alright, but Jasper would have appreciated it more. All in all, we were just ready to go home.

But Carlisle never called. We waited four days after he told us he'd be in touch, and nothing. And none of them were reachable on their cells. At first, Rose had handled it much better than I had. She'd totally talked me out of tearing our hotel room apart in frustration.

A smile settled over me. I guess she hadn't done a lot of talking. A hard smack thundered against the back of my head.

"What are you smiling about?" Rose snapped in a breathless tone. It was less from the walking and more from the cursing, but it amounted to the same.

"You on my dick," I answered immediately, turning the full force of my dimples on her. I threw in a quick wink before turning back toward the seemingly endless muck that was veiled with thick palms and vines, making it impossible to see more than five feet ahead.

Rosalie was silent for a hair longer than normal, but she only picked up momentum while delicately making her way through the sludge. "Let me tell you something, Emmett McCarty," she began with a voice thick and dangerous. I examined the pout on those beautiful red lips as she said it. She was so fucking sexy.

She continued rambling on, but I only heard some of it as I started to fantasize about the wonderful things that sultry red mouth could do when it wasn't blaspheming and shitting all over the place. They were amazing. My tongue darted to my own mouth almost tasting her, but I had to keep moving. The sooner I got my baby out of this mess, the sooner I could claim my reward.

"Are you even listening to me?"

I answered, but I don't think "what?" was what she wanted to hear because she immediately stopped in her tracks.

"I just want to go home."

Now that – that voice she used right there – that I couldn't ignore.

There were three things about Rosalie that I was absolutely sure of. First, she had an amazing ass-- especially in those little black booty shorts. Second, no one could touch her skills under the hood of a car. And third, Rosalie never caved under pressure.

I had to turn back and look at her. The shimmer just inside the thick-lashed lids was enough to know how close she was to seriously freaking out. The angelic beauty that was Rosalie was dangling from my hand a few feet away, and she was ready to give up. I saw it written all over her face, and it was heartbreaking.

Well, it would have been, if I still had one to shatter. But I'd given it to her in exchange for eternity in her company. And I'd say I fared much better in the deal. Then again, I'd always carried the luck of the Irish. Or so I liked to say. Judging by the look welling inside my beautiful bride, I was going to need all the luck I could get if I was going to save this.

I reached out my hand, ignoring the dirt and grime covering it, and grabbed Rose's pale chin, pulling myself close with the contact. The curves of her body weren't touching mine, but they were close enough to be calling.

But shit, they were always calling.

Resisting the urge to grab her waist and pull her hips into mine, I settled for drawing my face nearer and keeping the hairsbreadth between us. "I love you, Rosie. I'm going to get you out of this, but I need you with me. Can you do that?"

Her eyes searched mine, looking for hope. Before she found it, her doubt spilled over.

"But where are they?" she whispered. "This isn't like Carlisle."

It was hard to decide what to say. I didn't want to upset her any more than she already was, but I agreed. This wasn't like Carlisle at all.

"As soon as we pick up a signal we can try again," I assured her. Rosalie was quiet, staring into my eyes. Looking for something more. "First we have to get out of this shit."

One side of her mouth twitched, but she held back her amusement. It really did smell like shit. Sometimes I wondered how she could remain pissed off all the time when I was so damn funny. But she almost immediately went back to cursing under her breath and scrutinizing her utter state of distress.

My thoughts lazed and I ran my eyes down Rose's gentle lines. Her perfect chest. That slender waist. And her ass. Damn, that was a nice ass!

All she had to do was bend over…

As that image crashed through my mind, dubbed over with my own porn theme, I snapped my eyes back to hers before she could realize what I was thinking. I honestly didn't have a one track mind, but those were some short fucking shorts. The black material barely covered the swell of that amazing booty. My god, I was glad she had them on.

This trip. I was glad she had them _on this trip_.

So, I reached around her waist and grabbed her, loving the way those curves filled my greedy hand. Rose squealed a bit, but fell closer into me, exactly as I'd planned. I gave the right cheek a tight shake, then leaned over and tasted her pouting lower lip with mine.

She tasted like Rosalie always tasted. Lilacs and roses, and in that order, but today I savored the saltiness of tears she'd never shed. They were intoxicating as I inhaled her, drawing her mouth to mine. Softly, I persuaded entrance with whispers of my tongue. And when she let me have it, I pushed closer still.

Her hard nipples encouraged my fingers to take over where my tongue began, and I let the hand holding her chin slide down her neck. Perfect, I thought, my lips following the trail so my hands could dip lower. I didn't ask for permission, and Rose tried to back away from the advancement of my groping, but I held her tight, nuzzling into the crook over her neck. I bit down hard enough for her to feel the pressure, but light enough I didn't shred her skin with my sharp teeth.

She gasped in arousal, and the smell of it began seeping from her skin, thoroughly cutting off the rotting stench of the bog. Rose's head tilted farther so I could run my lips and teeth across the smooth surface. My hand found the supple skin of her breast, kneading it with experienced motions. I knew how she liked it.

I pinched hard, and the resulting groan was satisfying at a carnal level. I answered with a deep purr rumbling through my throat. My lips trekked farther downward. As they reached the top of the deliciously red shirt, my hand came up and pulled the fabric down, exposing the round soft breast. My mouth was on it instantly, tongue flicking the erect peak, lips caressing its gentle slope. My other hand dipped lower; I inched two fingers toward the heat swelling between her legs. I made slow rubbing motions, searching lower and lower until I could dip my icy fingers inside.

Mmm, I could smell it from here.

"Not here," Rosalie whispered, but it was strangled, and the way her fingers wrapped into my curls and tugged my face closer to her chest, told me she didn't really mean it. Just going through the motions.

Instead of stopping, I stretched the thin spandex from her legs, noticing when she adjusted her footing to open her legs a bit farther, and ran my index finger over the slick folds. Damn, she was wet. That's the kind of shit that got me going. Rose was a virtual fountain of sexual energy, which I was always willing to tap.

I pushed a finger inside, excited by the way her body shivered and urged me to continue. Her head fell to my shoulder, golden hair veiling her bare breasts as I released the other one from the tank top and went to work on it. Slowly, I pulled my finger from her warm hole before slamming it back into her, earning a groan from her throat.

"Really not appropriate," she said in that sexually charged voice.

I looked up at her, leaving her bare chest heaving, and cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you liked it dirty."

Rosalie's face smashed into mine, her tongue not begging entrance, but demanding it. I kissed back, relishing in the taste of my wife against my lips. Her hips jerked forward and I naturally shoved my fingers up her again. And again as she rocked back. Her body twisted slightly looking for more friction, and I flattened my palm. Her entire body trembled as she slid against it slowly, forcing my finger even deeper inside.

"Turn around," I commanded her. It was hard to sound demanding, because really I was begging.

Rosalie did. For a moment I just took in her alarming beauty. The slope of her back, the curves of her waist, every tiny little thing was absolutely perfect about Rosalie. Hell, I pulled her out of a major meltdown and got her to bend over in the middle of a fucking swamp! This woman was positively amazing.

My hands grazed over the sweet lines of her backside showing their worship of her beauty. She showed her appreciation by shrugging those hot boy shorts just below her ass and leaning over. Round and plump she offered it to me, saturating the air with her arousal. I let each hand run across the smooth porcelain skin. They roamed the round curves just as they had a million times before, in a million different places.

I unbuckled my pants, letting them fall onto the slimy brown mud with a splat. The Sarge was at full attention, and pointing directly at his conquest in hard anticipation. Muck, and bugs, and the shittiest vacation of my life be damned. I loved this woman and I was going to show her.

So without a second thought, I plunged deep inside. Slow at first, moving in gentle pushes, until Rose added the rolling of her hips. My thrusting automatically became deeper, more intense.

Out of all the things I loved about Rosalie, this was the best. Not saying I only wanted one thing from her, because she was my everything. But this--the feeling of her body melding to mine, shuddering with me, drawing out my own ecstasy – this was the most beautiful thing on earth.

I slammed against her, grinding myself into her back, and watched as she tilted her ass higher. Her movements pushed me to penetrate deeper. Her nails, dirty and unkempt from the otherworldly conditions she'd endured this far, pressed into the thick branches of the palms. There was so many, that even as she crushed through the ones in her hands, countless more supported her against my feverish pounding.

My name dripped from sweet red lips as I slammed into her. So warm, so tight. This was heaven. Right here between the thighs of my wife.

That thought send a jolt through my entire body. My wife. I shivered, all my muscles clenching at once and I bent at the waist, pressing myself against her as I sent my orgasm straight into her glistening depths. Her body reacted to the force and froze a moment before erupting in waves that caressed me from the inside out, gently drawing my own relief to an end.

My lips fell to her sex-slicked back, gently kissing it before I slid Sarge out with a satisfied sigh. I tossed my arms back, savoring the feel of each muscle while I stretched my back. Rose stood and adjusted herself, replacing her clothing. At least she wasn't bothering to hide the smirk. It made the post-coital bliss that much sweeter because I knew she was still pissed from earlier.

Just as I was about to bend over to raise my pants, I heard it. Rose's eyes followed mine between my legs. The phone beeped. With a quick lunge, I grabbed my nearly soaked jeans that would forever smell like rotting swamp and groped for the pocket. Ignoring the fact that the jeans were dripping the disease colored black water we'd been wading through, I finally managed to grab my tiny silver cell phone.

"Three bars!" I exclaimed, not even bothering to hide the fact I thought this was our turning point. "I'm going to try Carlisle."

I began pounding in his number, but Rosalie's delicate hand landed on my wrist. "Wait," she said. "We don't know how long we'll have the signal, and we can't assume Carlisle will answer this time."

"So who do we call?" If she was hinting at someone, I couldn't see who and the scent of her sex always left me feeling a bit befuddled.

With a quick flick of her wrist, Rose grabbed the phone from my hand and typed in a number. As she brought it to her ear she smiled. "The one that got us into this mess."

I could hear the line ringing through hundreds of miles of static. But I finally understood who Rose meant when I heard the tiny hello.

"Isabella, I could wring your neck!"

But that was as far as she got. The stupid phone beeped, and just like that, our hope was cut off. Rosalie dropped the phone from her ear and stared at it with a sort of dazed expression on her angelic face. I wanted to throw something. Instead, I cursed loudly and proceeded to do up my belt buckle.

Just then, a twig snapped. Like earlier with the phone, Rosalie and I moved in tandem as our heads spun in the direction we heard it.

"What was it?" she wondered as her body inched closer to mine. The nervous state from before our little romp in the swamp was settling back over us. I shrugged and moved to the right to put my body directly between her and whatever had made the sound.

We watched for a minute and heard nothing. Not even the wind penetrated this thick foliage. Rose's hand found mine, her grip was solid and determined.

Out of nowhere and in a strangely stunned voice, she asked, "Do you smell dog?"

I groaned as a large beast stepped from a dense clump of trees a few yards away. Its thick gray hide was streaked with silver and its muzzle was withdrawn, revealing rows of sharp white teeth. The werewolf stared us down. It seemed to be alone, so I did what any vampire would do after getting caught doing it with his wife by a stray wolf.

"You like my doggie style?"

The growl that rumbled from the dog let me know that he did not, in fact, like my style, doggie or no.

That was the moment this trip turned into a real nightmare.

**A/N: So, I'm really excited about Emmett's POV and there's two more chapters of him to go. Let me know what you think!! **


	18. Our tour guide doesn't speak English

**Thanks to Gondolier. I love her. And to Stephenie for creating the characters I fell in love with.**

**This is dedicated to Kelli Larsen. July 1980 - July 2009. Rest in Peace, Puddles...  
**

**Chapter 17**

**Emmett POV, Part 2**

**Our Tour Guide Doesn't Speak English**

The thing about werewolves is you can't trust them. Not even the stoic, holier than thou bastards, because they were all just sitting at the brink of explosion. The slightest shift in demeanor and pop! You've got a mangy ball of fur with a whole lot of attitude. So I watched warily as the aging man with shorn silver hair stumbled through the marshy grounds, leading us through the bog.

He introduced himself with a short bow when he more jerked than shifted into his human form. I'd been as surprised then as I was now of the man inside the wolf. He moved in stops and starts, like his limbs fought against the motions. I wondered when was the last time he had been in his god-given body. He seemed to be fighting his own nature just to take a step.

Rose had remained silent since I'd been caught with my pants around my ankles, but it's not like this was the first time that'd happened. Ok, so we'd never been interrupted by a werewolf per se, but plenty of "people" (and I use that term loosely) had seen me sticking it to the ol' ball and chain. There was no shame in loving your woman right. Rose was upset because I let this dog take us through these less than desirable conditions. It's not like I needed to ask for directions, but the mutt offered and I took the gesture. This shit was nasty. My jeans were soaking and stinky and the way the material rubbed against my soft spots was not the epitome of comfort.

The mud was gradually subsiding. It was now slopping against our ankles, and I didn't feel like I was taking a bath anymore. Naturally, that thought conjured up a whole slew of others, where Rosalie was taking a bath. Mud or no, naked Rose was a vision of beauty. Sarge bumped into the back of the zipper in my jeans. The excitement was easily dulled by the rough texture. Not for the first time in my life, I silently cursed my wife for always ripping my underwear and forcing me into a life walking around commando. She'd gotten my last pair four days ago. At least she practiced as she preached. I thought about that, then smiled. It wasn't all bad.

I adjusted myself mid-step, allowing Sarge a bit more breathing room, and turned my attention back to the wolf. In human form, he seemed frail and old. It looked like the best years of his poor existence had long since come and gone. Even his back stooped forward, bent by gravity over a long life. But the image didn't fool me for one second. His wolf shape was strong and feral.

It was our nature to be leery of the werewolf breeds. And there'd been some horror stories from this area long before I was around. So as we followed him, Rose's hand grasped tightly in mine, I acted oblivious to the entire situation.

Rose retreated into this silent mode, leaving me to a battle the wits with the dog. He seemed to know we were looking for someone, but he didn't speak English very well despite being able to understand everything we said. And neither Rose nor I had studied any German. Edward was the one who'd had too much time on his hands, an affliction I tried to root out for decades before he met Bella.

Finally the gnarly guy said, "Come, I take you."

Making the executive decision, I shrugged and we were on our way. We had to slow to keep pace with the withering old fart. Unfortunately. I swear his bones were crumbling away the further he walked. On the other hand, the canine side of him was still fresh in my mind. There looked like a good amount of bite left in that old dog and I couldn't risk either of us getting hurt until I got us out of this shithole.

So, a few hours later, we still traipsed through the ever thinning bog, following the grizzled werewolf who would hopefully lead us to Carlisle and we could all get the hell out of Dodge. I'd get Rosie's nails done (I saw her glancing at them out of the corner of my eye more than once) and bring her a live jaguar because they were her favorite. But maybe I should do that first, or she'd ruin the paint job. Yeah. She'd appreciate hunting first. If there was just something to eat around here aside from the foul smelling mutant. Rose's eyes were ringed with dark shadows, the pupils nearly black. I knew mine looked little better. It wasn't a desperate need, but I hated to think what might happen if the dog's putrid blood started to smell appetizing. I so didn't want to go there.

To stave off hunger and help to dry the readily flowing venom, I passed the time singing to myself. Happy my memory was just as good as any mp3, I ignored Rose's huffs as I busted out some of my favorites, dipping and jiving with my steps, dancing to the beat box in my mind. Sometimes it was so simple to entertain myself.

True to his words, the werewolf finally led us up a shallow embankment and out of the marsh. I groaned in relief, taking the opportunity to pull a fat leech from the bottom of my pants. You'll find no meal here, buddy, I thought before flicking it far off into the swamp. I smiled at Rosalie whose grimace only thinned before she looked down at her blackened and marsh slimed legs. It wasn't going to be easy making this one up to her, but I'd figure something out.

I watched her eyes pull tight as she leaned over to scrape away the remains of the nine hours spent walking through that shit. Damn, my wife was sexy. Long pale legs disappeared into the black shorts – shorts that I'd had down to her thighs a few hours ago – and it took all my strength not to run over and yank them off for good. I smiled wider. I'd had sex with Rosie in so many places, but our little adventure today ranked in the top three moments; along with the London underground and Edward's prized Volvo, that is. Man, he'd been pissed about it. In fact, I couldn't wait to reminisce this day next time I saw him. He was going to love that. Rose's narrowed molten eyes eventually alerted me that I was laughing out loud, but I couldn't squelch it right away. Imagining Edward's face as it twisted in disgust (which it always did when I thought about sex, regardless of venue) was just too priceless to give up so quickly. And Jasper would get a kick out of it all for sure.

"Emmett!" Rose growled, finally putting the mental image of Edward pinching his nose and on the verge of tears to rest. I tried wholeheartedly to choke back my amusement. We had to be close to the place.

I turned my attention to the dog. "Where to, ol' boy?"

He snarled weakly from decrepit vocal cords. I almost lost it again but decided it was best to refrain, even if the wolf from before seemed to be quick and nimble. I was looking at its soul. It couldn't be much stronger than that.

After scowling at me, the man turned his silver-haired head upward and pointed a gnarled finger to a hill in the distance. The top was high above the trees, and we couldn't see anything from inside the forest. But I assumed that was the direction from here. It looked steep but, shit, it wasn't mud, so I was raring to go.

But that tiny ass little dude, all bent over and limping, waved to us and said, "Come, I take you."

Rosalie groaned. "I'm sure we can find it ourselves. Thank you so much."

She didn't even try to sound nice and started walking on the bank of a little creek. It fed the bog and it passed right by the very place he's just pointed at.

I took a step after her, my eyes on the potential werewolf. "Thanks," I said and flashed one of my award-winning smiles and dimples in full affect.

I was kind of surprised when he didn't move. He just stood there, watching as I moved away. His black eyes stared at mine until I finally rounded a bend and he was lost from sight. I kept watching behind me, listening to the sounds of the forest around us.

"I still smell him!" I heard Rosie huff from a few yards ahead of me. I chuckled. I smelled him too, but that stench was rank enough to permeate our clothing. It'd have to be burned after the bog business, anyway.

A howl ripped across the late afternoon sky, shattering what was left of the tranquil day and my thoughts. I froze and turned back toward the marsh, but couldn't see anything. I couldn't be sure if that was our guide, as there was an entire pack somewhere close by, but the strength of its call resonated through the forest like a warning. This shit was starting to freak me out again, and pretty soon the sun would go down soon and I didn't want to be anywhere near this place with the lights out.

"Did that dude strike you as a little odd?" I asked after jogging a few steps to catch Rose, who hadn't even slowed stride when the wolf howled.

"You were the one that decided to follow a werewolf," she scolded without turning around. I spanked her ass.

"It got us out, didn't it? I just meant he seemed a little…off."

Rose turned to me, eyes ablaze. "Off? Off! Like thinking it would be better to _walk_ the Borgo Pass than wait for a taxi? Or, thinking the middle of a fucking swamp was the right place to seduce your wife?"

"Hey now," I held up a hand of peace, "I didn't hear you complaining."

Fury raged across Rosie's sharp features. With a hard voice and a sharp fingernail pressed into my chest, she said in a slow voice, "_He…was…watching…us_."

Ah, shit.

"It's not like he hasn't seen it before." I looked at her with hopeful eyes. Nope, she wasn't going to budge. I needed to divert her attention. "But we _are_ out. It won't be hard to sniff out a village full of dogs. Then we can get Carlisle and go home."

She sighed heavily, turned, and started walking again. Her golden waves caught stray bits of sunlight and glittered as it swayed. Rose's voice sounded so tired when she said, "He didn't lead us to the village, Em."

I looked up and there, towering high over our heads and perched on the steep hill, was a castle. The air suddenly turned thick and became hard to inhale. I couldn't help but stop and just marvel at the incredible size of the place. It was daunting. The strange, creeped out feeling I had on our way into Romania rushed back in a torrent of panic. I reached out to grab at Rose, suddenly more afraid than I wanted to be, but she was still moving forward.

"Rose," I whisper-shouted, but she didn't turn, so I said it again with a little more force. By the look on her face, she noticed the fear in my tone. I never wanted Rosalie anywhere near that twisted freak or his haunted ol' castle.

"What's the matter?" She was concerned at whatever she saw sparking in my eyes.

"I don't want you going in there," I told her. "I don't like this place."

"Don't be such a baby. This is where they've been staying. They've got to be expecting us." She turned to go, but my hand snapped up and grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Listen to me, Rose. There's a reason Carlisle didn't want everyone here."

"Yeah, he wanted to keep me and Alice out of it," she answered with an eye roll.

"Listen to me," This time I said it with conviction, so strong that she couldn't deny it, even though I was still figuring it out as I spoke. "Something's wrong."

She took moment to run that through her mind. A line of worry settled into her forehead. "What do you mean?"

"Carlisle said he'd call us, and he didn't. And he never intended for all of us to be here. He wanted some of us on the outside, like a safety net." It was starting to make sense in my mind.

"And think about it. If they were with the pack, wouldn't the old dude take us to them? I mean, he'd know if they were with the wolves."

The crease sank deeper. "Edward would be able to hear us from here," she whispered and looked back up at Castle Dracula, high above.

I hadn't even thought of that. But it was truer than anything I had come up with. I studied the castle with her, feeling very small. "You can't go in there, Rose," I concluded. "If something's gone wrong, you need to get back to Bella."

"Arg!" Rose turned quickly and glared at me. "And what will you be doing while I go back to Italy? It's like springing Jasper and Alice all over again. Who'll you bring home this time?"

Storming Volterra when our siblings had been imprisoned was some of the most fun I'd ever had; and it brought Bella into our lives. She was the sister I never realized I'd been missing. But I remembered all too well how difficult it was to convince Rosie to wait outside while Ed and I ransacked the city and blew up as much of it as we could. She was never one to want to stand on the sidelines, unless it involved mud, evidently.

But I knew Rose wasn't that mad at Bella, just at the situation. Rather than blame chance, she found it easier to place it somewhere much more concrete. That meant that this was going to take some supreme finagling. There was no way on God's green earth I was going to risk anything happening to her. Even if it might be all for naught. At this point, we still didn't know what was going on.

I reached up and grabbed my wife's beautiful face, one palm resting on each cheek, and I held her eyes with mine. "I don't want to leave you alone, but I won't let you go in there."

"But you will? And what if something happens to you?"

Then Rosie's palms were on my face, her eyes holding mine, and I didn't know how to answer. Shit! I'd die a thousand deaths to save my angel just once. And she'd do the same. It was an "impasse" as Eddie might have said. Of course, that little dipshit looked for any excuse to use his superhuman vocabulary to try and trip me up. Like it's my fault he stayed a completely neurotic virgin for an entire century.

Another reason to give my girl Bella some props.

But, it'd have to wait. Right then, I had my Rosalie in my hands and I was in hers, and her breath tasted like sex and beauty. It was so hard not to kiss her. But this was serious, and my iron will was cracking under the pressure of my wife's gaze.

"I can't take you in there. It's too dangerous." It was the last feeble attempt at an already losing battle.

She smiled, but it was soft, loving, and her mouth moved closer to mine until our lips were almost touching. "You can't go in there alone," she said, voice low and smooth as velvet. "It's too dangerous."

Plump lips touched mine in the sweet good girl way Rose had when she was being sincere. It wasn't a let's-get-it-on kind of kiss, but it was enough for Sarge to tip his hat. And when she pulled away, lacing her fingers with mine, I fell in love with her all over again. It happened three or four times a week, but each time was like the first time all over again. To me, Rose was beauty and lust and power and sex. And I loved her.

"Hey Rose."

"What, Em?" She answered quietly.

"We should get jerseys," I said, a wide smile falling on me again.

Rose's dark and confused eyes found mine.

"Because we make a good team."

I grabbed her hand, holding it tightly with mine. Together we turned and started toward the castle.

**A/N: So the last little thought was inspired by Perfect Team by Relient K. Emmett strikes me as exactly the kind of guy who'd buy a jersy for his gal, but that might just be me.**

**The next chapter is a doozy, so be prepared. And while I'm not making promises, but I'm so excited about it, I may post before next Monday. No promises, though! Gondolier still has to beta it, so who knows when I'll have it back on my hardrive!**

**In the meantime, you can go vote for my other fic, Changing Sides, at the Twific Indie Awards. While you're there check out some of the other lesser known stories and support authors who deserve the recognition. I found The Darkside of Twilight by Bella'sExecutioner, and it is amazing and dark...just the way I like them!**


	19. This is turning out to be a vacation

**The characters of Twilight belong to Stephenie but I wish they were mine. **

**Big shout out to Gondolier who got this back in record time, just so I could post early. (I really wanted to post this one as soon as I wrote it.) And big thanks to Master of the Boot, who should have called himself Master of the Action Sequence. His superb skills at writing a fight scene helped guide me through this. I just wanted it perfect for my readers. **

**This, ladies and gents (I know there's at least one of you reading this), is the reason Breaking Ties is rated M. My smutty side's got nothing on my violent side. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18**

**Emmett POV, Part 3**

**This Is Turning Out To Be The Vacation From Hell**

Alice's scent was weak and washed out as if she hadn't been in the area for at least three days. Carlisle and Edward's were nearly impossible to detect. Like they'd been gone longer. In fact, the only other recognizable scent was that of our swamp guide, who seemed to have been all over the castle grounds much more recently than our family. I never claimed to be an expert, but that just didn't sit right with me.

First of all, our kinds did not mix. Sure, there might be mutual ignorance sometimes, but considering the vampire who lived here had probably tortured scores of the pack's ancestors, it didn't really make sense that all the animosity would completely disappear in the short time Carlisle had been around. And a werewolf running this close to a lair couldn't be a secret. The back and forth sweep through the forest was undoubtedly systematic. He was patrolling. But why? That information was vital, but I couldn't figure out how. I couldn't pull my mind around it. Even Rosie had slowed her pace to track the hundreds of trails the wolf had made through this area. I just knew the shit wasn't right.

Even stranger still was when we exited the forest to make our way up the scorched and treeless hill, the scent was thicker, stifling in its strength, and it only got worse the higher we went. I started to think that Drac might have lured us under false pretenses.

I hated to admit it, but I wondered if we might be a bit out of our league.

When we reached the massive door, I nearly scooped Rose into my arms and bailed back into the swamp. It looked like some toothless monster inviting us into its mouth. Rosie just walked up to the sleeping beast and stepped over the threshold. I followed because I couldn't let her go in alone, even if I wanted to run the other way. And because she moved so sleek, so sexy. I'd follow her anywhere.

"Hello?" There was a tremor in her voice that only I could recognize.

"Ssshh!" We didn't need to attract more attention than necessary, but in my mind I was shouting for Edward.

Rose was breathing harder, trying to look around everywhere, but we were completely swallowed in darkness.

Evidently ignoring even her own instincts, Rose called out again.

This time the answer was immediate.

"Can I help you?"

I spun around just as a candle flickered into existence, revealing an aged vampire. Translucent hands held the candle, letting the wax spill onto them. A dark glimmer reflected into a haunting pair of maroon eyes that were glazed in a cloud of milky silver. White hair rolled somehow on top of his head, resulting into two coned horns. I didn't know whether to laugh or freak the fuck out. When his lips pulled apart revealing a pointed smile, I knew who it was immediately. Drac Two. Vlad's brother. I was not at all pleased to make his acquaintance.

Rose managed to get her wits back before I did, and answered. "Actually, we're looking for Carlisle."

"Ah," he sighed with a bit too much enthusiasm, "more of the Cullen clan."

The old guy dipped into a low bow, and as fragile as he was, I was surprised he didn't break in half. But at least my fear started to subside a bit. He may have done some fucked up shit in his life, but I was pretty sure I could take him out in a fight. My body relaxed with the revelation and I shoved my hand past Rose.

"Nice to meet you, little dude," I said as he took a tentative hold of my hand. Something dark flashed in his ancient eyes. He didn't like my attempt at humor.

"Stefan," he corrected with a tone as chilly as his skin.

"Alright, Stefan, then."

It still wasn't a bad idea to stay on this guy's good side, all things considered.

"Where's Carlisle?" Rose demanded.

She obviously hadn't been comforted by my own conclusions of being the bigger and badder vampire. My muscles flexed on their own accord as if to reassure her of that. But he stared directly in to my eyes. I couldn't tell what the look meant, only that it didn't leave me with a happy feeling, even if he seemed completely amused.

"Gone."

His response, cold and venomous, shocked the hell out me. I pulled myself up and pushed my chest out. "What do you mean 'gone'?"

The smile widened, distorting the man's features and twisting them into a grimace. The corners of his mouth drew into those sharp points.

"I mean, _he's no longer with us._" The words hissed from between his teeth, igniting me.

"Where the fuck is he?" I roared and took a handful of his black shirt into my fist. I easily pulled him toward me, then held him with his toes grazing the ground. He was surprisingly calm as he dangled in my grasp. And that freakish smile never fucking wavered.

"Emmett," Rose cautioned as the growl erupted from my chest.

I ignored the soft way her hand touched my arm. She wasn't really trying, so I swung Stefan around and slammed him into the stone wall. The entire structure rumbled in protest, but I quickly pulled him back to me. Both fists wrapped into the already torn fabric of his shirt, daring him to smart off again.

"Where's Alice, then? Edward?" I shouted in his face. Little splats of venom struck him and he slowly brought up his hand. Thin fingers wiped the traces away but the smile was effectively cleared.

"Gone," he echoed.

"Where, mother-fucker?" I roared, and slammed him into the wall again. This time, things clattered to the floor somewhere in the darkness when the force shook the castle on its foundation.

Laughter burst from the pint-sized weirdo as he dangled in my hands. The dude was insane.

Then he ripped away from my grasp as I was rammed from the left. At the same moment, my senses were assaulted by a sickly heat. It stabbed through my arm with fiery intensity. Rose started shrieking and I landed outside the circle of light that now lay forgotten on the ground. Instantly back on my feet, I looked around and tried to adjust my eyes to the lack of light. My shoulder throbbed with hot pulses of pain.

Stefan bent over and picked up the candle, throwing his face back into focus. He was finished laughing, but the wicked smile glinted in the flickering dimness.

"I see you've met Ephraim," he mused, and the silver streaked werewolf stepped into the light of the small flame.

There was time to see them standing together in the light before Stefan blew out the candle. I heard the wolf lunge at me and spun quickly. A jolt of pain raced from my arm as I fell into the cool stones of the wall behind me. I stared at blackness, listening for where the next attack would come from. I could hear the wolf growling, but the echo of it bounced around until I couldn't pinpoint the direction it emanated.

Rosalie was unbearably silent when the light went out, and I was just as terrified by it as I was relieved, hoping she might be able to keep herself out of this.

I made kissy noises into the emptiness, intentionally trying to goad the fleabag into revealing itself to me and not to Rose.

"Here pup. I guess I didn't thank you properly for giving us the tour."

I sensed nothing. Nothing but the stench of dog burning my nostrils. I stepped away from the wall, leaving my back exposed in an effort to lure him closer. I couldn't fight what I couldn't see.

I didn't even flinch until his jaws snapped tightly around the same shoulder he'd attacked the first time. I felt the serrated edges of sharp teeth tear into my stone flesh, ripping it wide. My venom was cold as it bled from the wound but it warmed instantly when it mixed with the wolf's burning saliva.

The crushing force intensified, slamming down with thousands of pounds of force. Marble bones creaked inside, screaming in pain. The heat swept through the wound, twisting my stomach and spreading the fires through my entire body.

"Emmett!" screamed Rosalie's voice.

Once the echo faded, I could hear her struggling somewhere nearby. I just couldn't see anything except the shining fur surrounding the wolf's mouth. It was thickly covered in venom as he pulled at my torn flesh.

"Rose!" I shouted back, straining to hear the commotion.

Were there other wolves? Was it Stefan?

I couldn't fucking see!

Despite the crippling force, I fought against the iron jaws, pushing against the thick neck of the beast. I wanted him tear through my arm, just so I could get loose of his stranglehold. I just had to get to Rosie.

She screamed out again, bloodcurdling and encased in torture. This time, the scent of her venom followed the horrifying sound of Stefan's insane laughter whirled from the dark. She was fighting for her life.

What the fuck was I thinking, bringing her here?

I pulled my fist back and slammed it into the dog's face, over and over, exerting all my force before it weakened so much I was useless. The only think I could think about was getting to Rose, so again and again, I struck the wolf, feeling the pleasure of his bones snapping under my fist. My voice roared in fury, not forming words, only anger.

Finally, I was able to jar it enough that he relaxed his jaw. I yanked my shoulder away swiftly, shuddering as my flesh ripped off in those teeth. A wave of dizziness, followed by the ever-expanding burning in my arm, knocked me to my knees. I could hear the werewolf breathing nearby. He'd be on me again at any second.

Black spots popped at the edges of my already blinded vision, threatening to shut off all thought, but she screamed out again. It was softer than the other times. Whether it was because she was farther away, or hurting more, I couldn't be sure. I just had to get to her.

I stumbled back to my feet and began to move with no direction. I called out to her, bouncing my pain into the darkness, but the answer I received was not the one I was looking for.

Ten sharp claws sunk into my back, slicing in with a metallic grinding. The force of the werewolf's stealth brought me back to the ground with a jolt. I spread my hands in front of me to absorb the impact, but when my injured arm touched the floor, it gave out. From wrist to neck, the bones in my left arm shattered, leaving it useless at my side. Tiny slivers exploded outward sending crippling pain rushing through me.

After that, there wasn't any sound aside from the tearing of my flesh. The wolf dug into my back with claws and teeth until I was consumed with the sound of him. Disgust swirled up my throat and exited my mouth as I vomited venom. I couldn't even raise my cheek from the bile puddling beneath it. I was incapacitated.

My eyes closed, though I fought it. Gravity tugged on them, leaving me to hearing the snapping of my flesh between the dog's teeth.

While I lay there, consumed in the pain of dying, memories flashed inside my closed lids. I relived an entire existence in an instant. I let the feelings wash over me like the wind, until my mind thought it could actually hear it happening.

I was dying.

A shock of fur flashed in front of my face. It was brown, not silver. I blinked, not understanding at first, but feeling the damp, needled ground beneath me as I tried to curl my body tighter.

My eyes fluttered open when it bit into me again. My skin was cold and slick. Dirt clung to its tacky surface. A roar burst in my ear, and I was rolled over with a powerful shove. Claws shredded soft flesh.

That's when I saw her.

Rosalie.

Standing a few feet away in tight dark clothing, her golden waves caught the sun's rays and reflected a warm light into my vision. If I was to die, this was how to go: with a vision of beauty, of perfection, burned into my memory.

She had to be an angel. An angel sent to release me from the torture.

I caught her eyes, colored like amber, as she watched in horror. With the next stuttered heartbeat, she disappeared. Immediately, the weight lifted from my body and my mind forgot what was happening. It was too surreal, too fuzzy.

I was dying.

My body unwound from around the knees I'd pressed into my chest and when I sat up I felt the sick way my shirt hung from my body. I could feel blood running from everywhere before I even looked beneath me to see it. I choked on the bile as my eyes rolled slowly, half-consciously, over the scene. Blood was everywhere. My blood. There was too much.

This time I threw up into my lap. It was more blood, which caused me to vomit again before falling over.

I was dying.

I lay there, my eyes slowly refocusing, and there she was. The angel, standing, back turned over a mound of thick brown fur like a predator over its prey. A delicate hand reached up and wiped at her mouth. When she dropped it back to her side, I saw the crimson streak across it.

She seemed to sense me watching her and turned with those golden eyes wide and fierce.

Golden eyes, golden hair, golden _everything_.

That part of death was beautiful.

"Help me."

I couldn't lift myself off the ground to see who spoke the words. I felt so tired, but if I shut my eyes I wouldn't see her again. I'd be dead.

"Help me."

Again, they were a whisper, but I watched my hand reach out for her, realizing in the same moment that I was the one pleading for help. Her thin fingers wound around mine, and the cool touch sent shivers through my ravaged soul. The blackness edged in, dimming her face.

Then there was a brilliant flash, and everything went white. Suddenly I was a million miles away, standing next to Rose on the beach.

The ocean lapped against a million different colored stones. She stood in a long cotton dress and smiled at me. Our hands were still grasping each other's tightly and I could feel her radiance seeping into my body from the contact. Her long hair fluttered in the breeze, flying lazily into her face. The sun reflected blinding prisms off her pale skin. The brightness was consuming.

"Emmett?" she called in a voice as easy as Sunday morning.

I nodded, wondering why it hurt so much to do it, but then smiled.

"Are you listening?" she asked, pulling me down on the shore and crouching low to face me.

"Of course, Rosie baby," I told her and ignored her flicker of irritation from using the pet name she hated.

But she was still smiling brightly when she said, "Then help me."

I stared at her softly glowing face with absolute bewilderment. "What?"

"Help me," she repeated with slightly more force. But her smile didn't waver an inch, and then I knew why.

"_Help me_!"

My eyes snapped open, pulling me from the edge of death. Using ever last bit of energy stored in my totaled body, I pushed. I pushed with all my might against an immovable force of nature; against the memories of a life I wasn't ready to leave; against losing the other part of my soul without saying goodbye to her first. The werewolf still shook at me in a carnal frenzy, but I pushed against him.

With hands flat in a mixture of vomit and venom, and I made it to my knees. The wolf bit in deep, latching himself to me and snarling because I was interrupting his meal and he really seemed to be enjoying it.

I inhaled, tasting the disgusting aroma of my death, and with everything I had, I pulled my body upward. The wolf's claws sank in as gravity threatened to knock him down. He desperately tried to remain on top of me. He was going to kill me, but I could only think of Rose. I had to save her first. That was the only thing clear in those first shocking moments of reality. As I snapped out of the part memory part hallucination, I could only think of her.

I reached up with my uninjured arm and grabbed into the venom-soaked fur of the beast. With a powerful jerk that landed me on the ground again, I swung the wolf over my head. My back tore open as his teeth and claws ripped through it, but I brought the little fucker down across my knee. His spinal cord shattered under his own weight.

He shuddered and let out an ear-piercing howl, cowering on the floor. I had but moments before his body started to regenerate, and I was shutting down. I knew I couldn't let my killer live. I knew I had to act, but just raising my head an inch was almost impossible.

But somehow, I did it. I lifted my eyes enough so they fell on the growling werewolf. Through hazed vision, I saw it, and a rage I'd never before experienced burst from me. This mother-fucker separated me from Rose.

Something snapped.

On hands and knees, I crawled closer. The wolf snarled, but was still wrapped in the throes of pain as his spine tried to lace back together.

No, there wasn't much time all.

With my working but shaky and venom-stained hand, I reached out, grabbing the paw closest to my destroyed body. I pulled him close to me with a hard yank. A look of surprise passed his black eyes, but I looked down at the stained fur.

I didn't even think about my next move. I just reacted, ripping my own teeth into the dog's stringy hide, and easily slicing it from his body. I ignored the poisoned blood as it fell into my mouth. Another howl erupted from the beast. It sounded wet and slippery. I still trembled a bit, reminding myself that it was from the torture burning through me.

My body was slipping away. My mind shaded with visions of nothing. I barely knew what was happening, relying completely on instinct. I was out of control. My arm shot out, straight for the werewolf's head. With a snap, my fist flew at the beast's eye, crushing through its skull.

I heaved, watching as blood spewed forth in torrents around the wolf's impaled eye. His head lolled slowly to one side; his eyes dulled and unfocussed. Then he fell onto the ground. With a soft whimper, the werewolf trembled back into Ephraim. His human face was obliterated. The pounding of his heart stuttered a few times and quit. Half a second later, his last breath rattled through collapsed lungs, and the wolf was no more.

I was still going to die, of course, but I had defeated the big bad wolf.

A force stronger than anything I'd ever experienced pushed me back to my feet. Then it convinced my legs to pull me forward, through darkness swirled both inside and outside of my mind. My senses were a chaotic jumble, but somehow I knew which way to go. It was as if my soul followed the beacon to hers, somewhere beyond my sight. So I walked.

I don't know how many painful and burning steps I took, thinking each one would be the very last, before I finally did fall. This time, my arms didn't even react as the ground came up and slapped me in the face, mocking my attempts to survive.

It all seemed like a pretty shitty effort now, anyway.

My head banged on the floor, landing next to a shoe. Somewhere in my fading thoughts, I recognized it as the one Rose had been wearing. Marsh slime still covered it. My fingers slid across the worn stone and clutched at it, dragging closer the only piece of her I had left. The scent of lilacs and roses flooded my senses and I slipped away…

When my eyes fluttered open again, I wished it _had_ ended at that moment, that oblivion had taken me, because true horror was waiting when they finally did – the horror of realizing that I _was _dying – I just wasn't dead yet.

**A/N: I didn't want to do it, Em, but I had no choice. I swear! Stupid werewolves anyway…**

**Thanks for reading. **


	20. Unanswered

**Disclaimer: The world of Twilight doesn't belong to me. I know, its shocking!**

**Big thanks to beta goddess, Gondolier for all her help and suggestions. I love you! And thanks to everyone who takes the time to review and let me know you're out there.**

**This is a little belated, but I posted two chappies last week and I thought you could handle the wait.  
**

**Chapter 19**

**Unanswered**

My head hit the desk with a thud. Unsurprisingly, it did little to diminish the agitation gnawing away at the back of my head. This all seemed so pointless.

Out of the endless documents and hundreds of computer files that had survived the fall of the Volturi, nothing seemed to give me any information about Vladimir Tepes or his fall from power. There was certainly nothing to indicate the man had ever been married, and certainly not to me. And there had been plenty of information about me in those files.

I paid careful attention to the dates of everything that pertained to my existence, and nothing pointed to anything earlier than 1572, when I was labeled "young human female, brn eyes, brn hair, acquired from FRA neophyte removal, name: Isabella."

I wiped away the books, envelopes, and computer discs; they landed in piles on the floor on top of the others I had already finished. Very little of the vampire history before the sixteenth century had survived. It was more than frustrating and my mind ended up bouncing back and forth between solid memories of Edward and the hazy ones starring Vlad. I couldn't fit them together. They were parts of two entirely different lives. I couldn't make it click.

It became blindingly apparent that the only one in existence who could answer my questions about the memories was Vladimir.

Just then, my cell received a text.

ETA 5 MIN

Good, Jasper and Felix were back.

MEET ME AT THE FOUNTAIN. TIME TO TALK TO VLAD, I texted.

IS THAT A GOOD IDEA? was Jasper's immediate response.

IF I WANT TO STAY SANE IT IS

The irony was that the longer I dwelt on this, the truer that statement became, but Jasper didn't seem to think so.

U R CONFUSED

Yes I am, I thought, but replied with MEET ME IN 10 and stood from my desk.

The way to the square was easy and I barely bothered to slow my pace. All the human heartbeats in the area were slow and restful. My baser instincts reared their head, but that dry thirst at the back of my throat was easy to ignore. It was when I was caught off guard, hunting and at the mercy of my carnal needs, that I slipped and took human life. Here in the city it was second nature to overlook the call of their blood.

It was close to midnight. The moon had appeared over the high outer walls of the city, but there was a crash of thunder. The feel of the silver glow on my skin felt assuring. My fountain was gently flowing, the trickle guiding me through the narrow streets to the core, the heart of my city.

Jasper hadn't arrived yet, so I had the moment necessary to see the beauty of Edward's love, spilling his heart over and over again in immortalized stone and water. I sank down on the edge of it, fingers falling in as usual. The water was undoubtedly frosty, but the chill of undead skin felt nothing but the clear liquid swirling around them. This fountain, as well as the one that had been before, remained a constant comfort to me.

The three men stepped into the square, immediately illuminated in the soft yellow lights surrounding my fountain. I gauged them, watching as I would anyone, allowing my instincts to detect any threatening move.

Jasper, tall, lean, with golden hair illuminated by the light, looked almost angelic. In spite of where he'd come from, he had changed himself from crazed soldier to a brilliant and understanding man. I was lucky to consider him a friend. Felix, in contrast, still seemed partially dark, even directly under the street lamp. But I could see the cocky grin on his face. It was dazzling next to the dark contrast of his body, reminding me he was the same man he'd always been. He'd never changed anything to conform to anyone's standard, and certainly not to mine.

But if I thought Felix looked only a partial shadow, Vlad was the darkness itself. Black and faceless, he was a haunting figure. He glided while the others, albeit gracefully, sauntered along next to him. I got the impression that Vlad had been guiding the trio instead of the other way around.

They stopped in front of me and I tried to remain calm and collected. Jasper helped me stay focused as he singled out my tension and pulled it away. I gave him a quick smile and stood, purposely keeping my eyes from falling onto Vlad's.

There was much I needed to discuss with both Jasper and Felix, but only Esme's AWOL status would be an acceptable topic in front of those piercing eyes. Rosalie's disconnected phone call would have to wait until we were alone. I was still undecided on whether Vlad knew what was going on at his home, and whether it was something I needed to worry over. While both Edward and Alice's letters fell flat, they might just have been hurried. And sometimes it _did_ seem like they shared the same mind. Despite the wary feelings I had over the situation, the fact remained that I still had no idea what was going on there.

"Have you heard from Esme?" I asked Felix. He took over the seat I'd abandoned with a heavy sigh, most likely accompanied by a roll of his eyes.

"Why?" Jasper was quick to steal a glance at Vlad, but I didn't notice anything out of place when he turned his eyes back to mine.

I laughed out a humorless breath. "My office is in ruins. It just doesn't strike me as the way Esme would leave things."

Jasper gave me a guarded look, but stayed as silent as Felix and Vladimir.

It surprised all of us when the voice that responded to my question was softly accented.

"Maybe she got tied up."

I finally made eye contact. Instantly aware of how hungry Vlad's eyes looked, the dark purple rings beneath them, I was entranced at the same time by the fires burning in their blackness. Both fear and lust speared through my body, but Jasper pushed harder with his own mistrust, dominating everything, even my emotions. I needed an excuse to look away.

"I haven't been able to find her, but I have a tracker looking."I told them.

That had been my first thought after losing the call with Rose. She'd sounded pissed, but I didn't have a chance to ask anything before I lost her. So I focused on Esme instead, and sent Deva to my office to track her from there.

Then, I'd texted Edward almost seven hundred times before piling myself in the worthless documentation. It was a futile attempt to stave away the worry that was eating away at me. The fact that I had not spoken to him in days was pressing, but the tone of Edward's letter was worse. It had been so cold.

I turned to Jasper, clearing my mind. This had to happen first, and then I would get to my Edward. I just needed to place this other confusion so when I saw him, I had reason behind the infidelity of my mind. And, unfortunately, Vladimir was the only one who could help me find it.

"Jasper, I need a moment."

I looked directly at him, seeing that he understood right away what it was I wanted. He nodded, but I could tell he didn't want me alone with Vlad, even if I had no intention of going further than the other side of the fountain.

Vlad seemed to catch on just as fast and offered me his arm. With deliberate caution, I slid my fingers over it and rested them in the crease of his elbow. After a final glance over my shoulder, we began to stroll around the edge of the pool. My friends, who'd remain close enough to hear every part of what would be said, watched with clear trepidation.

For awhile, the only sound was the splashing water. The silence was uneasy, the touch of his velvet overcoat, unsettling.

"The base is several meters smaller than the original," he remarked out of nowhere, as easily as if guiding a tour.

The comment caught me off guard and I recovered with a lame, "You've been here before?"

Vlad laughed. It was a cool sound but harmonious with the slow trickling of the fountain, making it almost reassuring. I reminded myself who he really was, just as he spoke, diverting my question.

"What happened to the other?" he asked with genuine curiosity. When I didn't answer right away, he chuckled again.

"Another casualty of your coup de'etat?" he mused.

I growled lowly. "It is not _my _past that I'm interested in, Mr. Tepes."

"Are you sure?"

I caught his eyes, dark and thrilling. I couldn't tell if he was goading me or simply responding.

"Let's be honest. Do you have any other powers that I should be aware of?" If I knew what I was facing, I may be able to figure out a way to use my shield against it.

His smile widened. "You are perceptive," he admitted.

We had made it to the other side of the fountain. I dropped my hand away and stood in front of him, feeling awkward that I was going to have to be more specific.

"I want to know if you can influence thoughts," I finally gushed. At least it came out sounding stronger than I felt.

"Now that is an interesting question." Vladimir's eyes were like swirling fire, inviting me in. "Are you having thoughts you can't control?"

"Just answer the question, Mr. Tepes," I said forcefully.

"Vlad, please." His words were soft, like a whisper, but I could see the struggle behind his piercing eyes, before the man known as Dracula pulled away from me. He drew back as far as the ledge of the fountain would allow. He turned sharply, concentrating too hard on the running water. For a long while he was silent, and I didn't think he was going to answer at all.

After awhile, he sighed. It was a heavy, hopeless sound, but he didn't turn back to me.

"Have you ever wondered why this is so significant to you?" he asked, hesitantly motioning at the fountain with a voice that was shockingly quiet.

"You're avoiding my question," I reminded, taking a slow step toward him.

"Perhaps you're just not asking the right ones," he whispered. There was an edge to his voice that I hadn't noticed a moment ago.

My hand went to his back, though I wasn't sure why I suddenly felt like consoling him. He was frustrating beyond belief, yet there I was, trying to provide him comfort. Even as I knew Jasper and Felix watched on.

"What are the right questions, then?" I asked him. "There is so much that you can tell me."

Vladimir spun around so fast that I didn't have the chance to pull my arm away before he grabbed my wrist and held it tight. He was inches from me, breathing hard and forcing the weight of his gaze on me. I had no choice. I couldn't look away.

"You already know everything," he told me.

"I don't," I insisted, but he silenced me with a look.

I could feel his body closing in on mine. I could feel the way his cloak fluttered in the night's breeze, almost, but not quite, touching my clothing. It was too close but his eyes weren't letting go.

He studied my eyes fiercely. Then he turned away again, dropping my wrist and falling back into silence. With shoulders slumped forward and head bent low, Vladimir Tepes looked lost.

"I know you," he finally whispered into the water. "I understand you in ways no one else could."

It felt like a confession and weighed just as heavily. But it made no sense. I'd just met him a few weeks ago.

Hadn't I?

That was the question I couldn't resolve without his help. If for only the sake of my own sanity, I had to find the answer. I had to know what these memories meant to both him and me.

"Where have you been the last five hundred years?"

I could hear a slight smile in his voice this time. "Would you believe I was in a hole in the ground?"

I would believe it, I thought, but didn't say it. Instead I asked, "And what happened that forced you into hiding?"

He answered in a voice full of a distress—too strong to be so ancient. "I never said I was hiding."

After a small pause he went on. "My entire world crashed around me. There was nothing left but to pretend I would be able to escape the misery of living."

What could have happened to tear this man down? He'd been in his prime, in control of the entire vampire community, and had fallen so hard, so fast. It still wasn't fitting together.

"Was it your wife?" I asked him in a whisper. My mind spun furiously, waiting for the right piece of information to slip that would straighten out the pieces once and for all.

Vladimir's head tilted but he didn't turn again. I was thankful for that. I didn't want him ruffling me anymore than I already was.

Slowly, he answered. "I did not take her death well."

"She was human?" I gasped aloud without thinking, and he turned.

Burning eyes met mine, but they seemed open in their intensity now, like he was ready to tell me his secrets. "She was human in the ways that count."

"And she died, so you attacked your coven-" I began, only to be cut off with a hard smile.

"She was _murdered_," he hissed.

The memory of running away from a vicious cackle stormed through my mind. The fear, the rush, all hit me in a wave of clarity that the first memory lacked. I repeated the most important question I had, hoping this time he'd give me something I could use.

"Was that Elizabeta?"

I watched a sliver of tongue slip from his mouth and moisten his lips.

He'd called me by that name in the memory. Elizabeta. I almost hoped he's say it again, just to hear the way he worshipped the name with his voice. I had to push it down, because the final question remained: if they were actually my memories or if he was feeding them to me.

After the first meeting, Edward had accused me of knowing Vladimir based on something he'd seen in the stranger's mind. Could he possibly be planting these thoughts, or had my real past been erased until recently? No matter how unrealistic that was based on the other human memories I'd carried with me, it was still a plausible option.

But it could be something else entirely. I just wasn't able to wrap my head around anything stranger than what I was already dealing with.

"Who murdered her?" I prodded deeper.

"She is no concern of yours," he snapped back, more roughly than I'd have thought, given his somber mood.

The tone instantly ignited my own irritation, always simmering so close to the surface these days. "She is when I dream of her, when I can't get her out of my mind!"

I had expected an immediate response, or a question, or a '_you're out of your flipping mind_.' I really hadn't anticipated the wicked smile, accented by pointed teeth, daring me to admit more. I felt shamed I even said that much. Vladimir's eyes swirled black with the same desire I'd seen him wear in the memories, and it brought the lust back to my mind. It was immediately obvious; Vlad knew something of these memories, and that reinforced the idea that he was behind them in the first place.

Swallowing hard, I asked as bluntly as possible, "Are you forcing me to live your memories?"

The smile stretched farther, making his face look eerie in the pale light. "Tell me, Isabella, what do you know of your soul?"

Other than I thought I didn't have one until Edward awakened it inside me, I hadn't really given it much consideration. I said nothing in response, but the reason for his asking intrigued me. I wondered if he was purposely misleading me, and if his responses were more an answer than I was letting them be.

He went on without pause. "A vampire's soul is frozen in time, while other souls come and go." The lull of the fountain echoed behind us. I could feel Jasper and Felix listening intently. "My soul has been frozen for too long, but now it lives again.

"Elizabeta was my wife," he further confessed, moving closer, smile falling slightly. The force of his gaze was electric, charged with a long silent passion. "I loved her, and she was taken from me, and it killed me. But no matter how I wished for death, true death, it would not take me. I wallowed in my hole with Stefan for centuries, vowing never to reenter this world."

"But you did come out," I whispered, both afraid and captivated.

"I did," he acquiesced. "I found _you_ again."

All my instincts began shouting at me, but the conflicting arguments were dizzying. Red lights flashed danger, but the other thoughts, sick, blood-driven, sexier thoughts, swirled in, battling against my urge to retreat further. He stared at me with the same look I'd seen in the memories. Thick, deep, passionate. I was fighting it, fighting the impulse to lean closer.

My foot stepped back, unwilling to let him have that power over me. My body was fighting against my mind, and it was a losing battle. It made me wonder about Jasper. How could he let me sink this far?

"You are the only reason I'm here, Isabella." His body was drawing nearer. I could feel his cloak moving in the night breeze. Electricity seemed to bounce between the tiny space between our bodies. I was falling under his spell, the darkness growing at the corner of my eyes.

I grasped for anything to keep me afloat, but Vlad's body moved closer still, making me catch my breath. The cinnamon taste tingled against my lips.

"I'm not your wife," I whispered, already defeated.

Jasper was shouting, but it seemed so far away. I felt weak, ready to collapse.

Vlad's cold fingers touched my cheek. The caress was soft and sensual.

"I'm not Elizabeta," I breathed out. I wasn't sure at that point who I was telling.

Vlad smiled, grin sharp and pointed. He was going to kiss me and I couldn't stop him, because part of me wanted him to. The weight of all the memories, the emotions I felt while I lived them, crashed into me. My knees were shaking, and he leaned closer.

"You're not Elizabeta," he crooned, voice soft as silk and just as luxurious. "But I look in your eyes and see the same spark, the same desire, and I _know_, Isabella."

His lips were coming closer, and I forced Edward's picture into my mind. What would he think, seeing me about to kiss a man he hadn't trusted me to be around? How would he react to seeing me breathing deeply, gravitating toward someone who'd lived as foul a life as Vladimir? Would there be forgiveness at the bottom of the hurt? Would there still be hope for the man that owned my heart when he discovered what I was?

"I love Edward," I blurted. It was my last attempt to not give in and fall those last centimeters to Vlad's waiting embrace.

Something sparked in the dark eyes. "If you love him, why do you look at me the way you do? Why don't you run away, scared and frightened, like the rest of them?" he sneered.

"I'm only uncomfortable with the memories of you," I told him. "Memories that I started having a few weeks ago."

"The soul does not forget," was his smooth response. His lips were nearly on mine.

Jasper shouted again, and now I could hear his light footwork as he ran in our direction. Half an instant later, Felix started around the other way, meandering at a much slower pace. Vladimir growled and pulled back. I was off balance, but regained my footing by the time Jasper appeared. The heaviness had lasted less than two seconds, but I was still a bit befuddled.

Vlad kept my eyes and I saw his anger and disappointment flash in succession. Then, he settled into the unreadable mask he wore so well.

Jasper was glaring. If looks could kill, Vlad would be a deer in the headlights during hunting season.

Felix moseyed up, carefully watching the situation. He analyzed each distinct movement between the others, ready to get involved at a moment's notice. Well-trained and patient, I almost admired his lackadaisical talent.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jasper snarled at Vladimir.

"I am ready to leave," Vlad said casually, like it answered the question.

For a moment, we stood there, staring at him.

Jasper straightened from his crouch, but still looked pissed. Why was he mad? _I _was the one who had reason to be upset. I'd told him what this man did to me, and he almost let it go too far. That's when I realized I could see how angry Jasper was, but could not _feel_ it.

Jasper didn't look at me when he told Felix to take Vladimir to the tower and wait for us. With no objection from either, Vladimir followed Felix from the square while Jasper and I watched until they disappeared into the shadows.

I took a calming breath and placed my hand on Jasper's arm, trying to offer what comfort I could. After a moment of hesitation, he turned, releasing the power of his raging black eyes on me. The intensity I saw there was nearly enough to knock me down, but I planted my feet and squared my shoulders waiting for his assault of fury.

He stared at me for a long moment, and I waited, the anticipation almost choking. Then, like a tidal wave, Jasper's emotions slammed into my body, crashing over me in alternating waves of anger and disbelief, rolling me around inside them with uncontrollable vehemence.

Not even attempting to fight of the haze of passion that took control, I narrowed my eyes at my friend. I forgot all about Vladimir with his insane accusations and misleading answers, letting in slide to the edges of the building tension. I rumbled a low growl of warning.

I was not in the mood for this shit at all.

**A/N: So, any ideas about what's going on with Bella? All the answers are there, its just a matter of figuring out which answers belong to which questions. And remember, just because Bella is thinking one thing, doesn't make it true. She has a skewed view on the things happening around her. The truth lies in what she learned from Vlad, and what Edward and the others have found out for themselves. I promise all the answers are in here already. Now, its time to bring it together and get ready for an earth-shattering climax (Not in a sexual way, but you may be able to talk me into more shmexiness as we go...)** **Oh, and btw, this has officially become my longest fic so far! Yay for me. (I'm giving myself a pat on the back, because, hell, I deserve it. Writing is hard work. Good thing I enjoy it so much!)** ** Now review and let me know you're reading. I respond to every one. Thanks!!**


	21. Eruption

**The characters from Twilight do not belong to me.**

**Thanks to Gondolier and all my readers!  
**

**Chapter 20**

**Eruption**

"What the hell was going on here?" Jasper snarled back, fighting for control of his emotions.

While I had trouble controlling myself at times, using Jasper as a crutch to analyze my feelings, he was truly at the mercy of his emotions. We were well suited to be friends, but the volatile management of our moods meant a blow up of this kind was bound to happen. Rationally, I knew his reaction was deeper than I had anticipated, but in the moment, I could only think about the ways to attack the man I considered my closest confidant.

Red haze flooded my vision while my body instinctively bent into a crouch. Jasper's dark and angry eyes watched my every move like the trained soldier he was. He would be ready for my physical attack, but that didn't mean I couldn't use my shield. I was already coiling it around my core, ready to loose it.

Jasper grinned maliciously. His brilliant white teeth gleamed in the glow of the streetlights and his soft voice sneered from between his clenched jaw.

"Tell me what's going on," he demanded. "Tell me why you are trying so hard to deny the truth."

He was manipulating me, attempting to force out an answer with an assault of honesty. He wanted the truth, but I'd already given it to him.

"You know as much as I do." I had to force my voice because I really wanted to lash out.

Jasper's smile only widened. He pressed harder with his empathic nature and asked, "What are you protecting, Bella? I can feel you shielding something from me."

I snorted. "What do I have to hide? I've already told you everything!"

The smile was gone, but narrowed eyes still stayed on mine. "I don't think you've told me enough," he growled. "That was clear the second you got here. I should have known better, but I thought I knew you. I thought I could trust you."

It felt like a slap in the face. My hand even came up to my cheek as I stared at him in disbelief.

"You don't…_trust _me?" I questioned, shock running through my body, dulling my senses instantly.

Jasper stared at me, probably defining my emotions again as the surprise pushed my anger aside. Finally, his own body straightened from the defensive position, and he answered in a voice barely audible over the trickling water of the fountain.

"No."

I blinked at him, not understanding that one softly spoken word, as if it were from a language long forgotten to this world.

_No_.

If Jasper couldn't believe me, what chance did I have with his brother? My foot stepped backward. Insecurity consumed me as I tried to get a grasp on what had gone wrong. Fifteen minutes ago, Jasper trusted me unconditionally. Now…well, now it looked like he wanted to smear me over the pavement.

"What did I do?" I asked him in a weak voice. The hurt was evident. He would hear it.

But if I expected Jasper's eyes to soften, to turn back into the familiar golden hue, I was only to be disappointed again as he narrowed them into minute slits.

"That's my question for you," his deep voice snarled. "What _did _you do?"

Didn't he hear the entire conversation? We hadn't been that far away. What exactly was he accusing me of?

"Confusion is not a sin," I answered the only way I could.

"Lust is," he muttered with disgust, then turned and walked away. He left the plaza in a different direction that Vlad and Felix, but I watched until, like them, he disappeared into the night.

What was going on with my life? Everything that could possibly go wrong, had. First, I'd given in and let Edward go to Romania. The fact that I'd let any of them go was enough to question my sanity, but letting Edward go was the worst decision by far. I couldn't help but believe that if he were still here, I wouldn't be at the mercy of my own delusional mind. I'd let him take part of me with him, and evidently it was the part that controlled my grasp on reality.

I hadn't found anything concrete from questioning Vlad a second time. In fact, I was feeling more confused than before. It was obvious he believed in hocus-pocus and voodoo magic but that did nothing to explain the wild memories that had started my descent into madness.

I started walking. I didn't even feel like I could trust myself now, and that was compounded by the guilt over Jasper's accusations. What had he felt that made him lose it like that? And on a lesser note, why hadn't I felt it building? He had never escalated to that degree and I'd certainly never seen his emotions fly so far out of control. How could I not feel that kind of raw power?

Vlad was certainly affecting my actions, but I was adamant he was using some sort of power to influence my thoughts. It must influence me similar to the way Jasper's ability worked. As I realized that, I wondered if Vlad had used it against Jasper during our conversation. I couldn't explain how he was doing it, but I knew Vlad was behind it, somehow. And though my own thoughts seemed too real to have been conjured and planted in me, I had nothing else to go on unless I gave in and believed what Jasper believed: that I was a traitorous monster.

I looked up and noticed I had already made it back to the tower. I could faintly smell the trace scents of both Felix and Vlad, who'd passed by a few minutes earlier. There was no sign of Jasper, but he needed a moment to cool off and I would respect that.

Then, I would slap him across his face and provide him with proof that Vlad was pulling all the strings. I just needed to find something that would undeniably clear my name and point a finger at the Romanian.

Something dark caught my eye, high in the window of my office. It was precariously close to the edge of the balcony, but when I saw the figure step over the railing, all other thought was shunted from my mind. Panic pounded through my veins, reminiscent of a long dead heartbeat and my legs began running for the building, to the familiar shape standing on the ledge stories above my head.

It was the feeling of hopelessness that brought it on. I knew where I was going, but my mind told me there was nothing worth running for, that it was already too late. But that was exactly why I ran; because there was no hope left.

The familiarity of my actions brought the fantasy over my eyes, veiling reality from the dark corners of my mind. It took my senses and smashed my logic. I was running for Esme, but I was fleeing from something else. Something much darker. And I knew it was going to get me.

_There was a fevered thud in my chest, as a long dead human heart frantically pounded its terror. My feet slid against the slick moss of the rocks beneath them, and I cast nervous, expectant glances behind me. Any moment, she would be on me._

My body flew through the foyer and toward the fire escape.

_My feet hit a raised surface, throwing me forward with enough force to slam my chin into the stone staircase. The warmth of an open wound spilled down my face, and I brought a trembling hand forward, touching the sticky surface of my face. The tacky blood that smeared across my fingertips when I brought my hand away to inspect it was a sickly velvet, and my mind swirled dizzily at the sight of my life force seeping from the gash._

I gasped, both in memory and in present_. _

_The final shock took my mind, as the pounding in my chest grew stronger. She would have me now for sure. Holding a gentle hand to my chin, I stumbled up the winding staircase, following it all the way to the roof of the castle and ignoring the way the blood dripped from my hand and onto the stone stairs. I was only partially surprised when nothing grabbed me from behind. I threw myself higher up the castle._

I stopped at the door, rush of adrenaline whooshing inside my ears. I listened for anything behind the door to my office.

_The woman's voice cackled from behind, sending shudders spinning down my spine. I hesitantly leaned farther into the railing._

I steadied myself against the wood of the office door.

_Cool breath touched my neck, causing my instincts to react, leaning even further. _

There was nowhere else to go. I pushed past the barrier and flung myself inside the room. I heard the unmistakable sound of a body falling to the ground hundreds of feet below. I stood for a moment, panting heavily and wondering why I wasn't falling, before I could shake the memory from my mind. I regained the unnecessary breaths and ran to the windows of the balcony.

There was no hope in my mind. I already knew it was too late.

*

Thunder clapped from a distance. We waited twenty-six minutes with her in the alley, willing her to wake up. She still remained smooth as glass. Not a murmur, not a breath, not a sound.

Jasper paced from left to right over the lifeless body of his mother. His grief only compounded my own guilty conscience, but for those twenty-six minutes, we were both struck by loss. It was like waiting for ice to melt on top of Everest, and neither of us had the gumption to pull out the magnifying glass.

Esme's round face seemed dull and tainted with a sickly gray pallor. Her eyes were open enough to reveal the yellowed whites, and her cheeks looked hollow and dead. She truly resembled what she was. I remained at her side since those painful moments after finding her in the alley.

A sick protrusion stuck out from her neck, and Jasper's howl of anguish when he ripped the impalement from his mother's delicate body was lost to the sound of the thunderstorm moving in. Along with the rush of her black venom, all color drained from her flawless face. She aged a century in those few seconds.

Now we waited, Jasper pacing and I studying the way Esme's darkened flesh began to thread itself back together in a complex weaving. I assumed her insides were regenerating as well, but she still hadn't come to. She hadn't done anything at all.

And time was slipping away. For the first time in my immortal existence, there wasn't enough of it. Yet, still we wasted so many precious minutes, staring at the living corpse of Esme. I knew we had to act; I understood where to go from here, but couldn't make any move to set the plan to action. I sat, just as frozen as Esme, stewing in my guilt at leaving her alone when she was obviously unstable. I'd thought it a hundred times while selfishly convincing myself that I needed to get out of Volterra. But, as crazy as she'd seemed, I hadn't expected something like this. She'd almost been normal.

None of it changed the fact that I'd broken a promise to Edward. He'd asked me to look out for her, to keep her occupied. And I had failed more than miserably. But I'd done that a lot lately. Add it to the growing list of wrongs I'd done him, even if most of them happened in my mind.

I waited twenty-six minutes before I jumped to my feet. "We need to go to Romania."

He gestured toward Esme with a destroyed look in his eyes. "We can't just leave her here."

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. Jasper was miserable. A little more tact was necessary. I wasn't pissed at him anyway, just myself.

"Jasper, you and I both know who's behind this. I'm not sure how directly. Felix is missing, too, along with everyone else." I paused, and Jasper hesitated. I continued on with a voice barely above a whisper and eyes trained on the lifeless pallor of Esme.

"There's nothing more we can do for her now."

We stared at her as the seconds ticked by, knowing we were running out of time.

"Look, Jazz, I'm going to Romania. I could use you with me, but I won't force you to come."

He stared, motionless, at the face of his pseudo mother, willing her to give him some answer as what to do next. The look in his eyes was heartbreaking.

"I will have someone watch over her," I told him, and reached out to lay my hand on his arm. His hair bristled a bit at the contact.

"It needs to be family," he said.

And without waiting for the snarky remark that sat at the tip of my tongue, Jasper pulled out his cell phone. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed immediately by a roll of thunder. Then I heard a voice answer.

The good news was Felix's horny ass had contacted her when he'd arrived back in Volterra, and she was already on her way to Italy with the rest of her coven. The bad news was that it was Tanya, so it completely cancelled out the better news altogether.

The thunder rolled overhead again, and the sky opened up. Tears fell from above, landing on Esme's broken and beaten body. They spilled down her cheeks and through her caramel hair. She truly looked like Snow White after biting the poisoned apple.

"We need to go," I said quietly, under another thunder clap. He would hear the plea in my voice and I knew he'd respond, in spite of his negative feelings toward me. Alice was out there, too.

In a smooth bow, Jasper leaned over his mother and gathered her in his arms. She never looked smaller and more helpless than she did at that moment. Thunder and lightning crashed and flashed on top of each other, making the scene surreal. But Jasper remained a cool mask as he carried Esme into the building amidst the fat drops of rain and the purple, raging sky.

*

Enter the Audi R8.

The sleek exterior glittered like my skin under sun, and the black leather inside cradled my body to it. I loved this car. It had been a gift from Edward. Turning the key, I delighted in the way it purred to life beneath my able guidance, and even let my excitement slip a little. Driving this was as familiar as loving Edward. It helped to calm my nerves, just by gripping the steering wheel between my fingers. Jasper settled into the passenger seat, and I shot out of the parking garage and on to the still-sleeping streets.

Tanya and her sisters would be here after daybreak, and in the meantime I had Deva come to my office and wait for them. Useless as she was, she was the only one I could spare. I had the rest of the guard alerted and patrolling Volterra's walls. Vlad wouldn't be able to get back into my city.

The Italian countryside flew by at alarming speeds as I pushed my sleek machine to the limits. The sky swirled with blue-forked lightning and gusting winds. Jasper was silent, brooding over Esme. I guess he thought that leaving her with close family friends would soothe her if she woke, but he still wasn't convinced she would wake up.

Neither of us spoke for hours on end, losing ourselves to thoughts of what awaited us in Romania. I felt ill-prepared and conflicted. Worse, still, was the guilt. Guilt over Esme, guilt over Edward, guilt over my stupid thoughts. And the closer we got, the heavier it pressed on me.

Once we were in the heart of Transylvania, seventy miles from Bistrita, it became too much.

"Talk to me, Jasper." I didn't know if he was purposely trying to ignore me, but I needed him. Aside from Edward, Jasper was the only one able to calm me.

"I don't know what to say, Bella." He was irritated, but we needed to be on speaking terms going into this.

"Tell me you're with me."

He was silent and I turned to face him, keeping the road in my peripheral. It was enough that I stayed between the lines.

"Jasper, tell me you're with me," I repeated. "I need you."

I was alone without him. I couldn't lose the last thing I had. Not when I was failing.

He sighed loudly, keeping his eyes focused on the dark forests and hills zipping by the window. With vampire sight, he would still be able to see every leaf and branch and thorn.

Then he turned to me, so I shifted my head slightly back to the road. "I don't know if I am with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He was silent.

"Jasper! What's that supposed to mean?" This time I said it with authority, a low growl reverberating beneath my words.

Darkness flashed through his eyes, but his voice was quiet. "It means I'm not sure what to think about you, Bella. I told you. I haven't been able to keep track of your emotions. It feels like I don't know who I'm sensing anymore."

"And?" I asked, because I could see that wasn't everything he had to say to me.

"Esme," was his response.

Again, what's that supposed to mean? But this time I didn't repeat myself, so he elaborated.

"It all just a bit suspicious, if you ask me, Bella. You came back to Volterra on your own. You didn't even mention anything about her being missing until I saw you at the fountain. And even then, you were too preoccupied with Tepes to really tell me anything."

"You think I had something to do with that?" Was he serious?

"I know what you're capable of," came Jasper's cool response.

Just yesterday he was praising my abilities, and now he was shoving them in my face like I was a common criminal. But that wasn't what started the red anger swirling through my body anger.

"What you accusing me of?" I demanded angrily. "I didn't make Esme jump off a building."

"I didn't say you _made_ her do anything!" he snarled back.

It felt like a slap. It stung. Jasper didn't believe me. Good, faithful Jasper was turning his back on me. He thought I was capable of cold-blooded murder, murder of his mother. How could he possibly believe that Esme's blood was on my hands when the evidence so obviously pointed toward someone else?

I swerved the car to the side of the road and turned the key. I let my eyes burn into Jasper, who didn't even flinch. My shield unconsciously wound around me as I shoved a sharp finger into his chest.

"Let's get something straight, right now," I hissed. "I wouldn't lie to you. And I would never harm Esme. She means too much to your family."

After a moment, Jasper pushed my hand away and glared at me.

"But nothing to you. I know how jealous you are when you see her with Carlisle. Don't you know I feel every little fluctuation of your mood? For ten years I've been examining your emotions, Isabella. You can't hide them away. What I felt from you today was beyond despicable."

My hand flashed upward and struck his cheek. I hoped to slap him with the same force his words had hit me. He'd done it twice already, and I'd had enough. I felt betrayed and heartbroken. I couldn't believe what he was insinuating. If he couldn't believe me, what chance would I have with Edward? The sting of the disloyalty was sharp and burning. I wanted to slap him again, but I just stared. Half of me hoped he'd realize his mistake and blame it on the stress. But the other half hoped Jasper would strike back so I'd have an outlet for the pent-up aggression.

Tension simmered like static between us. It was the only sound aside from the soft clicking of the Audi's engine as it cooled. No other cars passed us on the desolate highway, and the forest seemed to absorb everything else. It was just Jasper and Bella and an explosion waiting to happen in the car parked on the side of the road.

Jasper's eyes searched mine. He was warring with himself, which was a good sign. Maybe he'd come around. He drew a slow hand down his face, and when he was revealed again, a composed face met mine. The friction between us was still just as strong, but Jasper looked like he no longer cared about anything.

"I need you," I whispered. I felt like it was my last chance to make him see. I was reeling from his unexplainable shift.

"You can't hide your feelings with lies, Bella. It doesn't work that way," he muttered, throwing open his door.

Without another word, he stepped out and ran, disappearing and leaving the door hanging as wide as my mouth.

I was reeling. What the fuck just happened? I sat as the remnants of Jasper's scent were whisked away by the wind and stared into the trees. He had to come back. Alice was there, too. Didn't he care about that? He couldn't really believe everything I'd said was a lie, a conspiracy.

"I need you!" I shouted out, knowing Jasper was too far gone to hear it.

Solitude consumed me. But I made up my mind. I gave him twenty-six minutes, as long as I'd given Esme, at a time when time meant so much. But there was no more to spare for his tantrum. I turned the key, revving the Audi back to life until she purred like a content housecat. Tires screeched in protest. Gravel shot out from the tires and I pushed it into gear, letting the speed of take-off slam Jasper's door shut.

With or without him, I had to go on.

**A/N: So, things are moving slowly for me right now. I have two other chapters completed, but am struggling with the very next one. Everything is culminating for the final smack down. I can't promise to have a chapter ready next week, but I can promise I'm working on it. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	22. Lifetime

**For the umpteenth time, neither Twilight nor Dracula are mine. Sorry, no dice.**

**Thanks to Gondolier for betaing, and all those reviewers who keep me going. I need you after this one.**

**Chapter 21**

**Lifetime**

I watched the painted stripes on the road flash by, lulling me into quiet contemplation. I was aware of the scenery passing before me, but without Jasper's presence to keep me halfway grounded, my thoughts slowly turned into something different.

Unlike the other misplaced memories that I'd been battling, these were closer to the hazy realities ever present inside my mind. I was able to maintain focus on driving the car, but relived a lifetime of memories in those last solitary miles. My hands clenched the steering wheel as the memories took hold.

And, for the first time, I didn't fight it, no matter how obscure and unbelievable they were. I just let them roll over me and through me, until I recognized them completely. Until I could finally see the truth. I hadn't needed Vlad for answers after all. I'd known the truth all along.

_It started with a point of light, tearing open, engulfing me. My eyes blinked, feeling cool hands surround me. Then I saw him. Instinct told me who he was, and I loved him on sight. My father. I knew his face as Marcus of the Volturi, but he seemed younger, more alive than I had ever seen him. His eyes, so piercing and red, looked back with the glisten of bliss in the corner of them. I sensed his power, felt his connection, but then I heard it. A voice beyond all others. Her voice. My mother's. Didyme._

_Blinking as rapidly as the swift beating of my heart, I turned my face to see her, and I loved her. Long, flowing hair, so pale it seemed colorless, fell over slender shoulders. Her pale skin glistened with sweat and it shook from exertion. She looked crippled, but my tiny mind instantly realized I had done this on the way into the world. I had crushed my poor mother._

_Her heart, a faint echo in the room, pounded weakly. It was struggling to beat and failing. Understanding swept through my little body. I had done this!_

_Father placed me against her bare chest, my ear pressed against a failing heartbeat. It echoed in delicate ears, imprinting itself to my memory. His eyes swam with sorrow. He knew it was close, he knew she was fading._

_With that realization, I knew he had the power to save her. Yet the man hovered recklessly close to my mother, kissing her dying lips, whispering in her unhearing ears. He did nothing. He made no attempts to save her, and I knew he could. I knew he had the power._

_Fury, red and fierce washed through me. It only took the slightest turn of my head, but my infant lips touched the warm flesh of my mother. With tiny razor sharp teeth, they sliced through the human flesh easily, filling my mouth with warm, life rich blood. Contentment flooded through me and I drank deeply, suckling at my mother's breast._

_A disruption erupted over me, but I ignored the growls and obvious sounds of a fight, clutching to the sweet nectar stolen from my dying mother. I had been angry with the father for not saving her, and here I was, finishing her off. The irony was not lost in my infancy._

_With a sudden weightless feeling, I was pulled upward, away. A cry of panic escaped my newborn lungs. It was strong, feral, like a wild animal crying in the night. I was a new brand of monster. I was aware of it from that very moment on._

_Childhood passed in an instant, the only image standing out was that of the man who'd pulled me from Didyme's chest before I could drain her. That man was Vlad, my protector, my savior, my friend. I grew under his watchful eye, aware of Marcus and Didyme's presence. But they had no direct influence over those early months of life._

_Half-breed that I was, I grew quickly, maturing much faster than normal humans. And while I grew, Vlad tended, doting on me like a treasure. He was the closest of all conspirators. He watched as I grew into womanhood, seamlessly moving into the role of constant companion. Desire sparked in me. Dark desire, that I couldn't relate into this life. _

_Human blood was not enough. I thirsted for something stronger. A mother's blood. An infant's blood. Blood of anything, with no indiscretion. The lust was jarring. It drew me to commit unspeakable acts of torture against hundreds of vampires and humans alike. And, alongside me was Vladimir._

_Then, I fell in love with him. We shared the darkest desires, why not share love with him, too? _

_The images flashed rapidly. I was absorbed in Vladimir. I was succumbing to the bloodlust that consumed me since birth. Man, woman, child, vampire, alike. No one was safe from the strength of my hunger. I saw now what drew us together. My unnatural bloodlust rivaled his own. It was only natural that we should couple._

_But the memories grew ever darker, much filthier in my mind. _

_Wrapped naked in a bloody pool of our victims, Vlad pushed into me. Even through the cloudy memory, I remembered the way his body completed mine while we caved to our desires. I could clearly recall the tight plane of his chest as it pressed against the warm and gently curves of mine. The warmth of the freshly fallen blood brought us a feverish passion amidst the gore._

"_I think they're on to us," he said, a worried look about him. I wondered how he could be thinking of anything when he was inside me. _

_I had trouble focusing. _

"She isn't happy about it."

"_There's no sense in hiding if they know," __I told him, leaning closer.__ "Let's not hide anymore."_

_I understood immediately from whom we were hiding. Marcus, Didyme, the Volturi. They wanted me dead. Vlad was protecting me from them, from my own family. In their red and clouded eyes, they saw me as a threat, as a mistake, as a freak of nature. Vlad had prevented them from touching me since birth, while keeping them close enough to watch over._

_We would fall them, the entire Volturi coven, because they would not be satisfied until I was dead. Vlad promised he wouldn't let it happen and I scoffed at his offered protection. I didn't need him, I told him. I could handle the weak Volturi coven on my own. _

_As the months turned to years, Vlad and I cemented our bond in marriage. I could recall the fine velvet of my red gown, the black lace of the stockings. He had removed them afterward with his teeth. It had been a small and understated affair, but completely solid. And when Vlad's lips touched mine as we stood above the altar, I nearly fainted with emotion. As it was, tears streamed from my eyes, my heart thundered in my chest, and a ring slid onto my finger._

"_I love you," he whispered; his breath, the familiar cinnamon flavor, brushed across my lips. _

"_I am yours for eternity," I promised._

_We feasted on infants on our wedding night and conspired together into the darkness of night. We planned what was necessary to fall the Volturi. A great sense of duty roared through me. As if it were my destiny._

My present self revolted at the memory. It had been my destiny, after all, but it was not to be, those many centuries ago.

_Someone had leaked our secrets to the brothers. They knew what to expect, and we never saw it coming. I almost lost my life that night. They came after daybreak, while I lay asleep and Vlad tended to menial chores about his prized castle. He never knew they snuck into my bedroom and held a pillow over my face._

_The Volturi knew me, having watched from afar as I grew and blossomed, but they did not _know_ me. My heart beat, blood pumped through my veins, and I breathed. They thought it all human necessity. It wasn't, because I wasn't human. _

_The pillow smashed against my face for a long time. I lay still, waiting. Finally, the culprit crept away from my bedside and back through the castle to the area the Volturi resided. I was alive, but the damage was irreparable. My sense of sight was damaged from the pressure against my skull. Vladimir returned to find me still curled in the middle of the thick posted bed._

"_They want me dead," I hissed._

_His long fingers worked through my matted hair, coaxing it to lay flat. "Hush," he whispered. "We will deal with that."_

_I turned to face his eyes. They were full of his concern. He saw the whites of my eyes bruised to a deep purple color. I told him of the assassination attempt. I told him the Volturi believed me dead already. It was then I saw Vladimir transform into the monster that made chills run up the spines of men and immortal alike. But the shivers that ran through me were anything but fearful._

_Dark, coal hair whipped away from his face as he jumped to his feet. The realization of what had happened struck through him with such force, I thought he would fall back to his knees again. The wild, insatiable hunger ever prevalent in those crimson eyes, sparked with a fuel I had never seen stir in them before. He looked downright threatening, but it only served to increase my desire for the man. I needed him that instant. And he took me, without waiting for any kind of invitation. The wild look in those eyes focused, then his strong hands were on my waist, ripping the underclothes from my body, and turning me over with the same movement. _

_He seemed to come to some determination, and afterward, gave into his carnal pleasures, slamming himself into my backside over and over with a heated passion, a fiery presence that let my dripping center take every bit of his furious outburst._

_Then began the game of cat and mouse._

_Vladimir went through his castle with a terrifying vendetta. None was safe. We never found out where the betrayal began, but it ended with the sharp end of a thousand trees piercing the sides of a thousand Volturi and Romanians alike. _

_The brothers and their wives disappeared._

_For months, the wails of the impaled echoed through the bowels of the castle. The pain was thick in the air, but it was the sort of thing that made me feel alive. The torture of others seemed to bring out the beast in me. I made rounds through the castle, down the sloping mountainside, and everywhere I looked were the impaled and struggling faces of the people I had known all my life. But one of them had betrayed me to the Volturi, those that would see me dead. So I drank the venom of each undead soul as it dripped down the length of sharpened spears, carved from the trees that had covered the entire mountain. I let the taste of their poison infect me, charge me, willing it to tell me who was the traitor. I continued until I was creeping in and out of the impalements like some dark creature better left in the nightmares of times long past._

_It was inevitable that the world would fall down on top of us. While Vladimir lost himself to the madness of torture, I lost myself to the madness infecting me from the venom of those he tortured. A vampire can drink of another's venom without repercussion, but as only half vampire, the venom affected me differently. It infected my thoughts, turned them darker and more treacherous. I was inadvertently going mad, and Vladimir was too engrossed in revenge to notice the descent._

_In the end, it wouldn't matter anyway. The Volturi came back for me. To be more specific, Didyme came back for me. She would never forgive me for turning her, that much was obvious as she stepped from behind the body of one of the suffering Romanians. She looked at me, eyes wide and bright. It was easy to tell she was relatively young to her new life._

_But it was hardest to look into the eyes of the woman I knew was my mother, and to know that when she looked back, she saw something she hated. So I ran away from her. Not because I couldn't fight, or because I was crazed enough to stand up to even the most powerful of vampires. I ran because I could see her scorn through those red eyes, and I couldn't stand it. That rejection was worse than death._

_I turned and fled, heading straight inside the castle. _

At that moment, I recognized what was happening as I twisted through the impossibly black corridors. I'd had this memory before. It had been the first one. But this time, I could recognize it for what it was: the memory of my death, my _true _death. The one I didn't wake from. I clutched the steering wheel in my hands, as those final thoughts swirled into my mind.

_I was pushing; my heart was pounding. I slipped, missing a step. My chin collided with the cold hard stone of the stairs, but I knew she was coming. I knew there was nothing left I could do. I couldn't raise a hand against my own mother. _

_I kept running, throwing myself up the winding staircase, listening to the invisible sounds that alerted me of her presence behind me. There would be no escape. There was no hope, now._

_I hit the railing of a little balcony, the gate pressing into my thighs as I slammed into it. I looked down over the valley, at the rows of trees, sheared of branches and bark, now standing as sharpened testaments to the horror inside the castle walls. Only, it was the horror outside that threatened me._

_I heard her voice, my own mother, calling me to my death. Her cold breath hit my neck. _

The car swerved, but I pulled it back into the center of the lane.

_I pushed myself farther over the railing._

_This time, when the sensation of falling fluttered through my stomach, I relived those final seconds of freefall before I slammed into the rocky river below. I lived through the impact, long enough to feel the pain of every bone in my body exploding on impact. I breathed long enough to taste the bitterness of my own half-breed blood fill my lungs. I heard long enough to hear Vlad's horrified howl of discovery._

_Then, it was dark. _

_Then, I was dead._

For a few shuddering moments, I relished in something I would not be granted the second time around. I relished in the feeling of death.

I opened my eyes slowly. I was parked on the side of the road, breathing in and out steadily. I couldn't believe it, but now everything fell into place in my mind. As little sense as any of it made, it was suddenly all blindingly clear.

I had lived an entire life separate and apart from this one. I had been a half-breed creature, delighting in devouring the young and innocent. I had been drawn to Vlad by the lure of blood and sex. But I wasn't sure what pulled him to save me from the arms of my parents in my first few minutes of life. Together, we had made the world darker and more frightening than it already was. Though my name had been lost to the ages, I was just as much a part of the horrors of that time as Vladimir. I was disgusted at myself and had to choke back the rising venom before I threw up in the Audi. Every single terror I'd committed rushed over me in a landslide of guilt and shame.

And Didyme, the woman who saved me from becoming Aro's feast in my present life, had been my mother, the mother that had pushed me over the ledge to my death.

I was still stunned by the revelation of it all. Marcus had saved me from the collapse of the tower when I destroyed his brothers. But when I was of his own undead flesh, he had wanted nothing more than to see me die.

Perhaps it was the guilt of killing off their child that led them to save me. I could understand why Aro had taken me from the village in France where I had been born in this life. I looked exactly like the manifestation of my previous self. I imagined that kind realization would have major sway over Aro. And when I had proven to be just another common human, without the knowledge of my previous life, without the secrets, he had determined I'd served my purpose.

I wanted to think Didyme sacrificed herself to save me from the same fate I'd suffered already. I'd like to think her hidden humanity was the thing that she called upon when she engaged Aro for this life. It was hard to think positively of her, now that I knew the truth. I would never know for certain her reasons because the two people who could answer any of my whys were long since gone. I just wanted to be able to hold on to one positive thought while the dread of everything else fell over me.

I rubbed my hands across my face in a swift motion, trying to wipe away the tension that curled over my muscles and coiled around my instincts. Above me was the very mountain I had once inhabited. I'd run through the trees that had once grown here. I had committed the darkest of atrocities here.

My hand moved to the car door handle and I popped it without looking. My feet stepped out onto the dusty street. I had somehow exited the highway and driven straight to the trail that wound through the trees to the castle perched high above.

Now that my mind remembered, my body remembered, too.

This was a place I had once called home. A place where I had once been married, living a thousand memories as a different person entirely.

And this was the place I died.

I had no intention of letting it happen again. Any of it.

If Vlad thought a little memory jog would turn me back into the crazed monster I had been, he had another thing coming.

With a furious shake of my head, I ran straight up the hill, nevermind the worn trail that snaked to the east. I had no time for following any more paths. Every path I'd ever followed carried me into wickedness. I let the freshly revealed past fly down the mountain behind me.

The growing suspicion that something had gone wrong with Edward fell right to the pit of my stomach and knotted there, remaining a heavy weight as I moved through the thinning forest. Now, when I needed him most, Edward consumed my thoughts. He was the only one for me, and I had to have him back in my arms. _I had to_. It had been long enough.

I was only partly surprised to see the mountain begin to blacken around me. The smell of burnt ground seared my senses. I stopped breathing when my nose began to feel like it was on fire.

I knew the rules had changed. The moment reincarnation and vampire human babies come into play, you know you're not in Kansas anymore. It was time to think outside the box. I could remember, but had no real idea what I was up against. Until I brought Vladimir to his knees, there would be no more little chats. That was done.

Determination filled me and I pushed on to the peak. Whatever came after this, at least I would no longer be at the mercy of something that happened to a different life. I was no longer that weak and breakable halfling.

I was Isabella Swan, stronger than any living vampire. I had bested the ancient Volturi coven and overcome that dark and tainted soul to allow myself to love. My love for Edward was not just lust and power-driven attraction. I was not the wife of a killer. I was Isabella Swan. I loved Edward, and fuck all that reincarnation, voodoo, hoodoo, bullshit. I belonged with _**him**_.

The red haze began to swirl into my vision.

**Don't forget to leave me hello!!**


	23. The Castle

**I own none of the familiar faces of Twilight. I do, however, own this story. **

**Thanks to Gondolier for betaing!**

**Chapter 22**

**The Castle **

I stood staring at the huge wooden doors for too long, listening to the sound of my breathing. There was nothing else to hear. Everything was deathly silent, in as well as outside the castle, and it took me a moment to gather my courage. I could pretend until my face flushed and my long dead heart started beating again in my chest, but I was terrified of this place. Knowing that I had spent an entire other life inside these walls made me wish I could turn around and run far away from this Transylvanian nightmare.

Instead, I took hold of the rusting iron handles and pushed the door open far enough for me to slip into the darkness. I silently latched the door behind me and stood for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the blackness inside. It didn't work. The shadows were like blankets thrown over my eyes. I couldn't see anything but black on black. My back pressed into the door, my hand reaching. I was fighting the urge to run.

I let my cool fingers slide through the iron handle, but didn't make the attempt to push it back open. I wouldn't leave here without my family. The problem was I couldn't see which way to go, or even if there was something three inches in front of my face. So I stood there, completely paralyzed, no longer breathing at all. I just listened until somewhere, far below me in the bowels of the castle, I heard a soft cracking. I couldn't place the noise, but it gave me enough to push myself away from the front door and into the castle.

Above all, stealth was the key. I moved silently along the edge of the hallway, feeling forward with only my fingertips to guide me. I placed each foot in front of the other and moved slowly into the blackness, testing the integrity of the floor beneath each carefully-placed step. I had to make it to Edward without alerting the Romanians to my presence.

Stopping frozen in my tracks, a trace of familiar scent assaulted my nose. The mortification of what it was made me to inhale it deeply. The smell of venom caused my panic to rise, tickling up my spine and settling at the base of my neck. It begged me to continue; then I noticed the stairs. There was light at the bottom. I could sense it there without seeing it, but it drew me downward.

My family was here somewhere.

The staircase led me down, far into the depths of the mountain beneath the castle. My body moved swiftly in the darkness, but each step was feather light as I raced silently to the bottom. When my feet hit the level earth at the end, I was once again in a long hallway. There was a lantern flickering at the end of it, casting strange, dancing shadows down the length of the corridor. Huge wooden crates were piled high along both sides, making the place seem small and claustrophobic.

Curiosity filled me, and I punctured my finger in the soft grain of the wood of the nearest crate. Something dribbled out the side. I caught a bit on my finger and brought it close enough to sniff. It was nothing more than dirt and from the scent, it was from this area. It had the same thick, burnt smell that attached itself to the mountainside. What was he doing with boxed-up dirt?

I brushed my fingers clean on my jeans and, with my back against the crates along the walls, I moved slowly toward the light at the end. I was breathing hard again as my steps took me closer.

I didn't hear them until I reached the lantern. Then, I almost couldn't walk through the door. My mind recalled low groans of the dying from a former existence and the corner of my lips twitched. I was immediately horrified that I almost caught a glean of the monster I had been in that life. I felt it rising in my throat, but pressed it back. The panic was stronger.

A puff of putrid air hit my face when I opened the door as it swung silently inward on dusty hinges. I nearly fell to my knees with the overwhelming sight of it all.

All around me were dozens of stakes. Each was six inches around, ten feet tall, and driven into the stone floor at seventy-five degree angles. They were the same as in my dreams, only this was sickeningly real. My eyes flashed over the room, searching for hidden danger, even as I rushed forward. There were bodies impaled everywhere, some months dead, others freshly staked. Rosalie, Alec, Emmett, dozens of humans, large game animals and even rats were impaled into the ground in a macabre scene of blood, venom and death. The ones closest to me were fresher, like the Cullens, but all hung limp and lifeless, suspended from the impalements.

A scream rose in my throat, but I choked it back still unwilling to expose myself. I scanned the room quickly, relieved in spite of the horror that I didn't see Edward among the impaled.

On the end of the stake closest to the door was Felix. This time the shiver ran over me in waves and my knees did buckle. It was too much and I fell to the ground in front of him. He was impaled through the chest where his heart would beat. His hair lay lank and lifeless. Dark shadows ringed his tightly-clenched eyes and another moan of pain escaped his lips. Shivers ran through my entire body. My fingers lightly touched his smooth cheek, but his eyes didn't even flutter. The movement of his eyes behind the closed lids was the only thing that signified he still lived inside the motionless shell of his body.

"Felix?" I whispered faintly. He didn't budge, but I heard another groan from the left. Without removing my hand from Felix's familiar face, I looked over my shoulder.

It was Emmett. He looked like he was in the worst shape out of all of them. Alec seemed untouched, aside from the stake in his chest. But his skin was a sickly green and I couldn't hear him breathing. Rose was missing an arm. It was tied uselessly at the bottom of her impalement like the twisted representation of a family pet.

But Emmett was a chew toy. His clothes were soaked in his own black venom and deep gashes ran all over his body. If he wasn't moaning, I'd have thought him dead.

I moved quickly and reached out, grasping the stake above Emmett's clasped hands and quickly snapping the timber to sawdust. He winced but held his eyes tightly shut. As gently as I could manage, I reached around him as far as I could. The sharp shards of the spike pressed into my own chest as I pulled him toward me. His voice echoed in my ear in a soft admittance of agony. I had to choke back my own bile so I wouldn't be sick as I felt his body slip from the end.

A mass of dead weight, Emmett and I both fell to the floor. Finally his eyes opened and he looked at me. His voice was strangled when he tried to speak, but I understood enough from the look in his eye. The pain had to be immense. There wouldn't be healing until he had fed, but he wanted to know about Rose. He'd probably be furious that I helped him before tending to his mate.

"Just a minute," I whispered, and with cautious movement, I pushed him off my legs.

Rosalie was close, but I hoped Emmett wouldn't be able to see her. When I approached, I could see she was in far worse shape than I had previously assessed in the dimly lit room. Her skin was gaunt over her cheeks and cold, lifeless eyes were half opened, staring at nothing above her. Her angelic face was the same, but now that I was close enough I could see deep oozing lacerations in her neck. Where her arm was severed, the venom had thickened and congealed. It smelled worse than decaying flesh. The putrid undead skin cast an odor of venom rot.

Using the same technique to free Emmett, I held my breath and broke the stake off just above the place it pierced Rose's chest. I carefully stretched my arms around her and heaved. She took more effort to loose, but eventually slid from the protrusion with a sticky resistance. Through the ordeal, her eyes remained lost.

I dragged Rosalie's lifeless body to Emmett's, then grabbed her arm and turned back around. Next, I set to work on Felix, who mumbled a gracious thanks. Up close, his skin appeared dark gray instead of green and he stayed as still as Rosalie. I slowly brought him to the others.

There were still so many people suffering in the tiny room. It began to press in on me. The stench was acrid, burning my nose as I wound my way to Alec. He was much further back than the others.

I wiped the dirty hair from his face. "Alec," I whispered, moving my face close enough to feel a faint puff of air from his lips. "Alec, its Bella. Please wake up."

He groaned softly before rolling his head slightly. The action caused all his muscles to react to a sudden pain which only increased his agony. Using every ounce of strength he had, Alec relaxed his body with nothing more than a stifled moan.

I didn't waste time. With a swift movement, I crushed the stake and lifted him free. My hands pressed into the gaping wound in his chest, willing it out of existence. He moaned again, but this time it sounded like he was trying to tell me something. I leaned closer until my ear was over his lips, even though I murmured for him not to speak.

"I knew you'd come," he choked on the words, but I understood them.

I swung my arms under his shoulders and dragged him to the others. Now I faced a new dilemma. I had to get my family out before I went any further. Time was just growing late and there was only one course of action. I needed some of them revived enough to help carry the others that weren't as lucky. But with the choice of blood supply here in the depths of Dracula's castle, it wasn't going to be an easy task.

I immediately decided to revitalize Felix and Alec. It wouldn't be easy to convince either of them to take what I offered, but there was simply no other way.

I moved quickly to one of the freshly impaled humans. She was farther back in the arrangement than Emmett had been, but not far enough to be rotting yet. The poor, lifeless girl had been dead for a day or more.

Sighing heavily at the task at hand, I gathered the broken creature in my arms and took her to Felix. Even in his emaciated state, he did not like my idea at all.

"You've got to be kidding," he groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I need you, Felix. This is all there is, unless you prefer rat?"

He gagged a bit. "I don't even think the Cullens eat rats," he murmured.

"You're right," I told him. "Now, drink."

With a grimace, Felix bit into the dead girl's neck. He had to strain to pull the sluggish blood from her, but I could see its effects as it swirled into his eyes. They were still dark, but much redder than before. When he finished, he pushed the body away and sat up.

"That was quite possibly the worst thing I've ever tasted," he complained.

"If I had another choice, Felix, I never would have asked you to," I told him, turning my eyes to Alec. He would be harder to rouse, but he was the only other option to get the others out. He was the least inflicted, despite the greenish pallor of his skin.

"Your turn," I said, and flashed my friend a half-hearted smile.

Alec looked ready to tell me no, that he would never drink blood from a dead human, even if it was the only chance. But I had known that all along. I was going to offer him something I'd only given one man. Despite the affect it would have on my own strength, I was going to share my venom with him.

Before he could argue, I slid a sharp nail across my wrist. Dark venom beaded immediately from the thin slash, but I shoved it in front of Alec's face before it could close. The call of it was too much and Alec took my offering. Grasping my arm with both hands wrapped around it, he brought his head from the floor, opened his mouth, and pressed his lips to my skin. I could immediately feel the pull of him drawing the venom inside him. The feeling was amazing. Something usually reserved for lovers to give a piece of themselves to their mate, the sharing of venom was a long-practiced aphrodisiac. And the feel of Alec's cool lips against me brought my breathing deep and heavy.

Luckily, he had the sense to pull away because I was losing myself in the sensation. He licked his lips, his smile widening.

"You could have given me some of that," Felix groaned from behind us.

"But you'll be strong enough without it," I told him with sincere gratitude. "Thank you."

Alec was sitting up, and though he seemed to be moving a bit sluggish, Felix got onto his feet too. He looked over the others, then at the horror on the other side of the room. His eyes were wide as he looked over them.

"That's Heidi," he said, softly pointing to the shadows along the wall.

"Heidi?" Immediately my head turned in the direction, but I couldn't make her out in the gloom. "What the hell is she doing here?"

A hand fell to my shoulder and Alec answered calmly. "She's found herself as wrapped into this as the rest of us."

We just stood for a silent moment staring into the forest of impalement. But I shook my head.

"No, she's the reason he came after me," I said with a certainty.

I didn't know how I was so sure, but I knew Heidi had been the one to come to raise the Tepes from their graves. I had known all along that I couldn't trust her to just go somewhere and die quietly. After the fall of the brothers and before Vladimir entered the picture, I already knew I had to be mindful of that bitch. As far as I was concerned, she got what she deserved.

"She's the reason we're here now. I don't have any sympathy for her." I turned around and looked at both Felix and Alec. "Felix, grab Emmett. Alec, you take Rosalie."

"I can get both of them," Alec said, gesturing back into the room.

I ignored him, but when Felix said my name in his firm voice, I had to say something.

I stopped and stood up. "No, Heidi stays." I commanded and eyed them both, daring either to object. I was sure she was the start of this. Her position in the back of this bloody mess assured me she was one of the first to be staked. That, coupled with my instincts left no room for argument. Besides, I had spent enough time down here. I had to get to Edward.

Neither Alec nor Felix said more, but lifted their charges into their arms. Together, we carefully filed out of the room, winding back down the impossibly dark hallway until the lantern's light faded behind us. As we walked I tried not to think of how this had played out, how Vlad and his brother were able to dominate so many strong vampires. It just seemed unreal. It seemed impossible.

And Edward, Alice, and Carlisle were still lost somewhere above us in this creepy place. What fate had befallen them? I prayed it wasn't anything like what I had witnessed, but I was afraid. Very afraid. Vlad seemed to know how I felt about Edward, just as he seemed to know how I felt when I was around him. And Vlad wanted me. Of that I was sure. At this point I had to consider him capable of anything, especially if he believed it would get him what he wanted.

I sighed. I wished Jasper was here to help calm my nerves. Even if that didn't work, I knew that once I got my friends to the door, I had to turn right back around. There was no stopping until I had Edward in my arms. I _had_ to have him.

Felix and Alec had to get the others out before anything else could happen. My car was at the bottom of the trail. They'd easily be able to track my fresh scent to it.

There was a thick thud from the stairs in front of me.

"Take it easy, man," Emmett groaned.

There was a second thud, and Emmett groaned louder.

Felix barked out a laugh. "That's for my hand, prick," he hissed, but not with complete malice.

I couldn't see him, but I knew what his face must have looked like. Felix was finally getting his payback for losing his hand when Edward and Emmett bombed Volterra to spring Jasper and Alice. I rolled my eyes, even though they wouldn't see me.

"This isn't the time," Alec said, voice subdued.

He was upset. But I knew he'd get over it. Not only was Heidi probably too far gone to save anyway, she _had _ratted me out to Vlad. Not sure why she would, but she did. To me, Heidi was a liability I didn't need right now. If she was impaled in the basement of Dracula's castle, at least I knew where she'd be. Not that I had any plans to keep this place around any longer than necessary.

"When you get to the top, go left," I instructed from behind, deciding to forget about Heidi, at least for the time being.

But, when we finished climbing the stairs, Felix did not turn left. He stopped just outside the stairwell, preventing both Alec and I from finishing the climb.

"Something's not right," he whispered, lowering his hand in gesture for quiet.

The urge to get off the stairs pummeled me. Something was coming from behind. No, this time I thought it was coming straight for us. We waited there in the blackness, waited for something to come out of the shadows, but nothing came.

Eventually, we started moving for the door. It was dark again outside. It seemed like it was always dark in this godforsaken place.

"I really don't want you doing this alone," Felix whispered.

I didn't want to either, but Alec wouldn't be able to get two vampires down by himself. Even if they found some local wildlife, neither Rose nor Emmett would be in any condition to travel far.

"I'll be okay," I assured them and met each set of eyes with a last, hopeful glance. I hoped they saw how much I loved them, how much I appreciated their friendship. I wanted them to see how sorry I was for letting them get into this situation, and how much I valued them.

But I said no more as I turned and ducked back into the castle. I had no idea where I should go, or what was going to happen. I just prayed they were leaving this damned place.

Just then, like the earth was opening, I heard a groan. Not just a groan, a cacophony of groaning that rattled the entire foundation beneath me. It came from nowhere and everywhere. It rang in my ears, inside my head. My hands flew to my ears to block out the head-splitting noise.

I took a step forward, back into the darkness, back to the terror. Still, the horrifying moaning echoed around me, but I had to keep going. Edward was in here somewhere and I was going to get him off this mountain if it was the last thing I did.

Then, I began running.

**A/N: First of all, thanks for everyone who reads and reviews. I totally live for you guys (and you know who you are.) I've had some questions about how long this story is going to be. So in answer, expect at least 4 or five more chapters, as well as a three chapter outtake I'll be posting later today. I would have just thrown in those chapters before this one, but I didn't want to halt the momentum. Be on the look out for those. **

**Also, my little prequel to this, Changing Sides, is up for a moonlight award at themoonlightawards . yolasite . com. I'm humbled to see that fic up for nomination against the best of the best. Go check out all the fabulous nominees and support your local twific writers. **


	24. Zombies

**So, nothing Twilight belongs to me. If it did, there would be much more torture and sex in the originals. **

**But where is all the sex in this fic, EbJ? **

**Well...I really did intend on having more than what there is, but it hasn't exactly worked out that way. So far, its right the way it is, so the shmexin will have to wait.**

**Big shout out to my beta, Gondolier. She is a thousand shades of brilliant. **

**And to my lovely readers, reviewers and friends, this chapter is sad...you might not realize it until later, but it brings a tear to my eye. *sniff* Happy reading...oh, and beware of undead zombies. You have been warned.  
**

**Chapter 23**

**Zombies**

There was no rhyme or reason to the way I ran through the castle, chased by the haunted groaning from below. I gave myself over to recklessness, no longer caring if it led me to doom, as long as I found Edward there, too.

I blindly ran into dark rooms, up blackened corridors, and into shadowy corners. Confusion, panic and fear berated me, goaded me. Only after a short time, I became completely disoriented, too terrified to take another step. The desperate groaning of earlier turned into hundreds of separate and distinct voices, swimming everywhere in the darkness. It was not the first time in my existence I felt lost, but last time, I knew Edward was alive, that he was okay somewhere. Now, I had no idea where he was. I had no idea to what sort of torture he'd been subjected. I had never felt so alone. I found myself wishing for someone here with me. The companionship would ease the stress building inside me.

It was then I realized my shield was gone. I cursed under my breath. While I stood there, quite possibly losing it, I had become vulnerable, and Vlad had sensed it. He'd taken it, as he had taken it and Jasper's empathic abilities the other times he was near. Fuck, I knew it was coming, but the loss of something so essential to who I am was devastating.

I fumbled forward again, arms stretched out in front of me, feeling my way down the second floor corridor. How was I going to kill the bastard when he'd taken my only defense? Still, I pressed on, each step becoming more determined, more sure.

The wailing voices subsided at the same instant, and that's when I heard him.

Vladimir was laughing.

I hesitated in a doorway as the cackling faded away to nothing. I could have sworn it was coming from around here. But it was eerily empty and the castle, silent. For a moment, there was nothing more than my ragged breathing. Then, the thunderous moaning resumed, this time on a louder scale. The force was worse than before and the entire castle wavered under the sudden explosion of sound.

There was no other choice but to follow the groaning to the basement. I wouldn't find Vlad unless he wanted me to, and it felt uncannily like the voices were calling me. Amid the thunderous racket, I ran back through the castle, scrambling forward on traitorous legs that wanted nothing more than to give out underneath my heaviness. But somehow, I made it back to the main floor.

This time, a new scent assaulted me when I reached the main hallway. The smell was thick and fresh and it called me to him like the voices of the hundreds of dead souls still serenading my descent through the castle. I didn't even take time to wonder why it wasn't there earlier when I was stumbling around in the darkness.

The room was centered in the middle of the long hallway. I placed my palms against the smooth, varnished surface of the double doors. They were warm against my icy flesh. Instinctively I knew there was a fire behind them. I pushed in hard, and the doors swung open soundlessly.

The immediate room was black, but I could see the tiny sliver of light flickering from beneath a wall on the far side of it. Other than that faint beacon, in was empty black space, reeking with the foul stench of stagnant death. I wasn't even able to discern if there was any furniture or something else to stumble over. I felt wholly inadequate stepping into the gloom.

Then, as if in answer to my growing hesitation, I heard him. It was low, more a breath than anything, but I recognized it too well. In a daze, I leaped forward. My ankle hit a sharp edge, but I threw my leg over the six-inched ledge, submerging my foot into a creepily warm and uncomfortably thick liquid. I made it through the ominous pool, trying not to think too hard on what exactly I was slopping through, even as my hurried steps splashed it into my hair, on my hands, my face. I moved on, desperately ignoring how my spine tingled when I licked the substance from my lips.

It was blood and venom, both vampire and human alike, mixing in a river of gore in the middle of this ancient castle.

My breathing quickened, though the air was harsh against the burn in my throat. I had no desire to ingest any more of the foul liquid, and pressed my lips together tightly. I automatically lifted my leg over the far side of the fetid lake, ending only a few feet from the door. The candlelight was brighter from this side, but now it was accompanied by a dull roar.

I jumped out of the bloody pool and ran the last few steps, making the quick decision to kick open the door. Without my shield, I was utterly defenseless, but I still work in a bit of surprise. I sensed how wild, black in anger, my eyes were, and cursed myself for falling so far away in that other life, into those other memories, for letting _him_ bastardize my thoughts for so long.

I was no longer whatever fiendish creature I might have been. No. I was strong in another way. And despite spending much of this existence doing other cruel and unspeakable acts against frail humans and those of my own race, I was no longer a monster. I had people in my life who loved me. I was not alone anymore, or afraid. I was no longer a monster.

With these thoughts, my foot thrust into the aging door. The wood gave way instantaneously. The entire thing, including hinges and ages of dust, flew inward in an explosion of debris. My eyes swept the room as the gust of wind burst past the falling door and swept through my hair. A growl rippled through my throat.

It wasn't candlelight I had seen flickering. It was a fire. The entire far side of the room was aflame, but the smoke was still gray. I could see the roasting bodies heaped atop one another inside the flames but could only smell the sickly scent of burning human flesh.

And that wasn't what concerned me.

In the center of the room was Carlisle. He was whole, as much as his body parts were intact, but he too was punctured by one of Vlad's impalements through his chest. His head was tilted away from me, and his arms and legs dangled in mid air. The stake was keeping him suspended above the ground. Part of me felt a tearing rip through my body and a strangled sort of sob fell from my lips.

I ran to him, not caring about who else might be hiding in the room or even about the raging fire at my back. I placed both of my hands on the smooth angles of his jaw, brushing them with soft caresses. I only had to bend slightly to reach and kiss his cheek. Carlisle moaned lightly with the contact.

I was crying, sobbing uncontrollably. He was alive. Carlisle was still alive, even if just barely. It gave me hope for Edward.

After carefully brushing his golden hair from across his forehead, I reached for the stake in his heart. Just as I prepared to crush it and pull my former lover from the end, laughter erupted from behind me. I spun around quickly, keeping one hand on Carlisle's chest.

Standing only a short distance away was a small, white haired vampire with strange hair and a frightening smile. I backed closer into Carlisle as he spoke, crimson eyes glinting in the light of the fire to his right.

"Our little blood princess returns," he giggled out in ancient Romanian.

I had no trouble translating what he said, then answered in the same foreign tongue. "You don't know who I am, Stefan."

"Then how is it you know me? He said the memories lived on in you, and now I see that it is true." The vampire clapped once. "I can't believe my eyes! Elizabeta!"

"I am not Elizabeta. Stay away from me," I hissed.

He clapped again gleefully. "Ah, that spark! It could have brightened so many dark days."

I choked back my rising snarls and smiled. I hoped he didn't see the dangerous way my eyes glinted when I did it. I only wanted him to see the smile. Vlad told me people were drawn to me. He said it was a gift. A gift that he would see as useless, while he pilfered the one I usually relied on. Well, if it was my only option, I had to use it, even though I had no idea what I was doing.

"Alright, Stefan, you're right. I'm back," I told him, working hard to keep my voice light under the circumstances. "You've been up to no good again, I see."

"Always," he answered with a wink.

He took three steps forward until he was only an arm's length away and gestured to Carlisle as he spoke. "Vladimir told me you'd have problems letting go of this one."

"There's no problem," I replied, truly struggling this time to keep the growls inside.

Stefan leaned forward a bit and winked again. "I can see that."

Then, he launched himself forward, throwing his hands around my neck. Half a second later, his teeth sliced into the exposed flesh beneath my earlobe. I cried out in pain as he began to pull long and deep from me.

I was immediately lightheaded, but knew I had to act. With as much focus as I could muster, I reached forward and grabbed fistfuls of his fluffy white hair. I jerked as hard as I could, ripping out long strands of it as he jilted to the side with the force. His teeth shredded through my skin, but his grip on my throat loosened enough for me to pull out of his grasp.

Stefan's milky eyes met mine for an instant. The bloodlust was strong in them and he pounced again, slamming into me with a stronger impact than I would have thought the little man capable. We flew sideways, hitting the stone floor with a jarring thud. The wind escaped my lungs in a rush, but there was no momentary reprieve. Stefan's teeth were shredding into my forearm and he giggled happily between his swallowing.

My first reaction was to scream, but it was cut short when I caught sight of Carlisle. He was still hanging limply a few meters away, but his eyes were open and fixed on mine and his fingers wound tightly around the stake in his chest. For a belated second, I was lost in the depths of them. The familiarity of the look was enough to give me a push of strength. I wouldn't die while he looked on, powerless to do anything.

As swiftly as I could manage in my confused state, I slammed my fist into Stefan's open mouth. The force was enough to tear his teeth through my skin again, and cause his own face to look momentarily as stunned as I felt. But I seized my opportunity.

Despite the pain and the venom dripping thick and slow from the wounds on my neck and arm, I pushed to my feet. Without hesitation I lunged for the white-haired vampire. Part of his face was concaved and he was running an ancient finger over the damage I had caused. He didn't even see it coming.

Weak as I was from venom loss, I did the only thing that made sense when my body collided into his with a thunderous crack. I let my own mouth open and slice into his paper thin skin. His flavor was vile, bitter, but it was the only thing I could do at this point, so I pulled it in quick, deep draws. Vampires weren't meant to live on the venom of others like them, but it would do to sustain me for awhile. Stefan squirmed beneath me. I centered my weight to hold him place, and continued to drink.

There were footsteps from behind. As I tore my mouth away, I clamped a hand over Stefan's throat to keep him still, as well as stop his venom for wasting away. There was really no need, as the old vampire beneath my body wasn't moving at all.

When I turned and saw what had moved behind me, I was stunned. From the fire a figure stepped forward, its movements stiff and jerking. I watched with wide, appalled eyes as it jerked closer to me. A fine mist of blackish smoke rose from the top of its head and its shoulders. The remains of clothing were charred into burned flesh that smelled sickly of vomit and ash. It had no eyes, just deep empty, orifices where they had been before they'd burned from its face. Nevertheless, it seemed to stare directly at me as it wrenched itself forward.

It wasn't until the blackened and mangled thing moaned, deep and loud that I recognized the sound as an echo of what I had heard shaking the castle earlier. It dawned on me that this creature stumbling toward me was only one of many hundreds I heard groaning. I felt quickly for my shield, finding it still missing.

Slowly, I stood up, wiping the venom from my chin. I pulled Stefan up by my hold on his throat. He gurgled but offered no resistance. I watched the burned, undead _thing _come to me. As guilty as I felt doing it, I saw the necessity, so I swung my arm around and threw Stefan in a graceful arch. It felt like killing an uncle, but when my wounds began to sting again, the guilt dissipated. The uncle had tried to kill me.

Stefan landed on the floor with a dull thunk and slid into the fire. The room immediately erupted with the scent of his burning flesh along with the stench of the other thing still making its way toward me.

I sidestepped and made my way back to Carlisle, the burned thing compensating its direction with my every move. Hastily, I reached above Carlisle's hands where they clutched the stake. I let my eyes fall from the creature and inhaled slowly, before flicking my wrists quickly. Carlisle grimaced in pain and his eyes darted to mine. I was grateful he didn't try to speak as I lifted him gently from the impalement and laid him on the ground.

I turned my attention back to the thing, but it was too late. It was already striking.

I had enough time to duck the first blow, but the second came from underneath and caught me in the jaw. My body flew upward with the power of the hit, but I still felt a bit of give in the thing's hand when it connected. The burned flesh was vulnerable, soft. I stored the information and landed on my feet in a low crouch. My eyes fixed on it as it ambled a few steps closer. It was completely focused on me, and stumbled right past Carlisle.

Thankful for small miracles, I growled softly and leaped at it, feet swinging upward. My foot connected with its face, causing the head to squelch in a disgusting way as it whipped back sharply. The thing raised its hands to steady itself, but to my utter amazement, took another step forward.

I had landed lithely on my toes and was ready. The thing seemed to move like a machine, with calculated, unwavering attack. Only the blackened flesh and sightless eyes assured me of that. Disgusted, I attacked it again, this time grabbing it by the head and shoulder. With a quick movement, I twisted the pulsating head off the body.

Without a brain to command locomotion, the lower half of the body fell to the ground in a heap. I knew it was a temporary condition and soon enough instinct would pull the undead body back to its head, where the strange nature of our kind would repair the damage. I had to dismember it right away.

I went to throw the sticky black head into the fire and glanced down against my better judgment. The eyeless thing was smiling—actually fucking smiling—and looking directly back at me with the hollowed out holes where its eyes would have been. Part of it gleamed with the bright white of exposed skull beneath.

"Elizabeta," it whispered.

With a yelp, I flung the head into the roaring flames, listening as it screamed when they devoured the thing. Putting an end to any possibility it'd rise a second time from the flames, I tore apart its soft flesh and tossed the remaining parts into the inferno.

It was only then I realized how hot it was getting. I had to get us out before we ended up like the barbequed monster I'd just dispatched. I ran back to Carlisle's side and picked him up gently. He gasped and his black eyes fluttered open, before he began retching. A foul smelling black sludge emptied from his stomach in a rush.

Anger began to roll through me again. How could anyone do something like this to Carlisle? Outrage threatened to consume me as I picked my way back through the room, to the door, loathe to wade once more through the muck of the blood bath.

I knew it wouldn't be long before the fire spread. The castle wouldn't survive a second burning. I had to find Edward before it was too late.

There was movement around the edges off the room as I started walking again. More of the burned undead creatures paced inside the blackest parts of the shadows. I could feel the sightless eyes boring into me as I struggled to carry Carlisle to the pool. For a second, I contemplated walking around, but I couldn't tell how wide it was. It was impossible to discern the edges in the gloom even with the fire raging from behind, so I just headed straight for the door on the other side of the room, keeping out of reach of the zombie things pacing around the edges of my sight.

Again, bits of blood splashed onto my face, my arms, and all over Carlisle as I made my way across the bloodbath. Anger and fury continued to build as I lifted my leg over the far side again. I was terrified over what might have happened to Edward, but that emotion was clouded by the rising rage that someone would do this to my family. To Carlisle! He was so good, so pure. How could anyone ever want to hurt him?

The things staggering around in the shadows began moaning loudly. Their voices grew deafening as they stalked toward us. I could make out the silhouettes of them beginning to walk from the blackness. They were closing in, blocking our exit.

There were a dozen of them, milling forward blindly. Each one looked like the first, though the burned clothing was a slightly different color on each, and some had tufts of silky hair still clinging to their scalps. Others had gaping holes in their bodies which made me realize they must be the ancient Romanian coven, staked to the earth and burned by their own leader in a fit of grief.

And here they were, still doing his bidding.

I had nowhere else to run. Twelve of the zombie creatures surrounded me in a semi circle, closing in tighter with each step. There was no groaning and wailing now. They bore down with purpose. I laid Carlisle gently on the ground, propped against the low ledge of the pool.

My body pulled in on itself, the muscles coiling. Without my shield, I was going to have to do this the hard way. I hoped my training would suffice against these things. I didn't even have time to blink and they were on me.

Fingers grabbed at my arms, burrowing into the wounds Stefan had made and they pulled. Their burned flesh was warm against mine. They tried to pull me in every direction, tried to tear me apart. I wildly kicked my legs and connected punches into the sticky cracked fronts of their faces. But nothing stopped them. There were too many, grabbing, tearing. Snarls flowed from my throat even as their teeth gnawed on the flesh of my arms and stomach, on my toes and my thighs. I was instantly on fire as their venom rushed through my body.

Suddenly, the wall across the room splintered with a roar and was engulfed in yellow and red flames dancing up the rotting wood, igniting the artifacts still hanging on the walls. I saw a small gargoyle placed high in the corner catch fire. Its face was caught in a perpetual grin as the fire licked up its stone body.

The eyeless zombies tore at me like wild dogs, slashing and biting. I kept my eyes up and watched the gargoyle fall from its ledge and hit the ground. The statue cracked up the middle, severing the malicious smile in half. Just then, a loud growl echoed in my head. I tried to reach out for Carlisle, but I couldn't free either hand from the mouths of the gnawing zombies. I cried his name and his hand found mine. It twitched as he grasped tightly to me, and I knew I was not suffering this fate alone. I uttered a soft sob and closed my eyes, letting the burning venom pull me away.

**So, they're being eaten...eeew...what's going to happen next? Is Carlisle okay? And where the heck is Edward?**

**The answers to those and more on the next update! Thanks for your reviews! (Hint, Hint)  
**


	25. Pull

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine...**

**Big thanks to Gondolier who read more than one version of this chapter, because it took me forever to get it right. And to refolin who's kept me chatting until I finally figured out where to go. This is for you, cuz I know how you like non-cannon. ;)**

**(Don't stress too hard, this will make sense...starting next chappie.)  
**

**Chapter 24**

**Pull**

I always imagined that if I finally paid the last debt of life, I would go quickly, that everything would come crashing down in an instant and it would be over in the blink of an eye. Not that I ever imagined dying. Not really. Not after I disposed of the Volturi. I was immortal, after all. I was already stone and marble, and venom and death. How can the dead really die?

What I had never anticipated through centuries of not planning for the eventuality, was that death for a perpetual being would be slow, painful, and downright terrifying. I never dreamed it would be painful, drawn out and crushing. This was an anticlimactic shock, a lull between tortures, but death was not far off. I knew that.

My body moved slowly as I woke, feeling pain shooting through the ends of my arms, up my legs, and stabbing me straight into the dark void in my chest, the place that used to contain my heart. I lifted my head from where my cheek rested against the cool stones of the castle floor. As I peered down at myself, the horror of what had happened crashed over me. I jolted, ignoring the fleshy stubs in place of where my long and slender fingers had once been and looked over the black venom dripping in rivulets down the gnawed fleshy part of my palms.

I allowed myself to gaze in horror at what had once been my hands before they'd met the Vlad's zombie army, before I tore my eyes away and looked around the room quickly. It only took me a moment longer to realize this was not where I remembered falling. There was no gory fountain spewing a foul mixture of blood and venom. There was no raging fire consuming the walls around me, devouring a thousand years of foundation. There was no Carlisle.

Helplessly, I managed to raise myself, though I was not yet steady on my feet. I swayed as my weight put pressure on the torn flesh below my knees. Then, once I was actually standing, it was as if the pain from the wounds fell through me, and I could feel each separate bite and claw and the individual strains of venom racing through my veins, burning them black with its poison.

That's how I felt, staring into the emptiness: poisoned.

It felt worse than being alone, worse than knowing what kind of monster I had been in my previous existence, by far worse than letting my rage handle me. Poisoned was neither strong nor empowering. I felt stripped, naked, bleeding out, draining. All that as the zombie venom boiled through me.

Ignoring the astute agony, I managed a few meager steps forward before I felt like I was going to fall over and plant my face into the suddenly enticing floor. It only took those excruciating steps and I was all too ready to give up. I wanted to give up and run the fuck away from this castle and the morbid mysteries behind the ancient walls.

But there was something anchoring me here, not allowing me to give in to hopelessness and run screaming. I knew only one thing in this world could possibly affect me like that.

_Edward_.

As I stood there, motionless as to not aggravate the burning distress of my body, I felt him. I felt the pull of him overtake me. I'm not sure if it shattered my will or encased it in steel, but I took that momentous step and was lurching forward into the darkness again.

This time, the blindness was more comfortable as I gave myself over to that faint tug from somewhere deep between my breasts. If I let Edward guide me himself, I will find him. So I stumbled forward, each step more painful than the last. Each rise of my foot drained my energy further and further until it was sheer stubbornness that made the movements.

When I reached a wall, I groped and stumbled to the left until my arm hit a door. Dismissing the pain of my chewed fingers as they clunked stickily into the iron handle, I managed a meager wrist flip and unlatched it swiftly.

The hallway beyond was disorienting. I had no idea where I was in the castle, nor how I got there. I could be anywhere, except I knew the third floor's ceiling was caved in, so I wasn't on top. I couldn't smell the fire that had been incinerating the room around me, but I dared not hope it consumed the zombies in the madness.

With no other options and the _need _to move forward, I pinched my eyes closed and allowed Edward to call me to him. Following that part of myself that belonged solely to him, using it for energy to move, using it for energy to live, I kept moving.

The stairs were the worst. Each time I had to place my foot the next step lower, the torture ripped through me. My shredded legs threatened to just throw me down the godforsaken things and end the misery. That tug kept me upright, clawing at the narrow walls with my blunted fingertips and sheer determination to see him first; to see the face of Edward before I caved.

It was strange the castle was so quiet as I stepped deeper into the blanket of black velvet. Creepily, eerily silent. The army of undead zombies who fancied a bit of vampire meat seemed to be placated for the moment. Or _satisfied_. I shuddered when my thoughts started down that road, but I couldn't help but tie it with Carlisle's absence when I awakened and the deafening silence now pounding through my ears.

It was when the smothering hush was broken that I felt the first shred of relief hit me.

A wolf howl, long, hard, _ready,_ pierced through the castle. It was immediately accompanied by a slightly higher pitched one that harmonized together like coyotes on a lonely desert night. It was only once, but I knew the cavalry was on the way. I trusted immediately that Carlisle had befriended this pack as he had the others he'd known.

My entire body sighed a gasping groan of relief, even as it remained in motion, following the pull of love.

Of Edward.

At least, nothing else ever crossed my mind that would make me believe it might be something else dragging me downward, back to the crate-filled dungeons where I'd found my family and friends – anyone important to _my _existence_. _

I mulled on it long enough to overlook the boxes torn open, with the earthen contents spilling over the floor and across other shattered crates. This floor was destroyed, like a tornado had torn through and obliterated this part of the castle. It wasn't until I was halfway through that I realized the earth had the same repugnant, putrid, half burned smell of the zombies. I gagged a bit as understanding built in my throat.

Vlad had encased his coven in these crates.

After burning them.

_At the stake_.

And now, he'd awakened them in their half feral, emaciated states to wreak havoc on my family.

Still, even as I was rolling these utterly detestable thoughts through my own half crazed mind, I took the remaining steps to that door, jolting and jerking my way through the fierce pain. It sung easily, soundlessly, and I was standing in the same room as I'd found my family. Their broken stakes stood as a testament to the escape.

The same lantern flickered dull and lifelessly. I used the flame to peer into the dimness. I searched the shadows filled with the corpses of both the dead and undead. The room stank of unspeakable things, generating a rolling sensation dancing in the pit of my stomach.

Then, I saw him moving through the tall naked timber, ducking behind bodies, slowly enough for me to interpret every move, every glance.

The memory struck without warning, even though I assumed once I puzzled through the reasons for having them in the first place, I wouldn't be consumed by them anymore. I'd thought that I could remember and no longer be forced to relive.

But I was wrong…

_I was looking from my balcony, watching the sleek form of his body as he weaved through the forest he was raising. Amid his towering, pointed garden, he was truly free. He was comfortable. _

_Watching him so happy made a smile slide into place._

_He looked up at me, sensing my eyes following him, even from high above. He matched my smile, showing the brilliant white of his pointed teeth, before running his tongue along the bottom, deliberately enough that my eyes could pick up every movement._

_Then he disappeared._

_Only a moment later, a soft sigh caused me to turn in alarm. And he was there. Smiling that same wide smile and staring into me with those piercing eyes. A shudder ran through me and pooled between my legs._

His eyes met mine, deep red and swirling with black clouds indicating he'd fed on vampire venom recently. The nausea I'd been fighting since awakening alone in the darkness finally caught me, taunted me as I spit the remainder of the bitter bile from my mouth. My eyes never left his, even as I choked and sputtered until I was crying in the pain I was inflicting on my mostly drained and completely shocked body.

I had completely expected to find Edward when that door swung open. I was so sure I was being pulled by the invisible bond I felt the moment I laid eyes on my bronze god. I had not expected to be stalked through a maze of bloodied stakes by a madman determined to make me into something I promised myself I'd never be again. (Granted the promise was made against the unspeakable acts I'd done in this life, but applied even more to the horrors I committed as Elizabeta.)

I was wilting under the completely emotionless way he looked into my eyes. I felt exposed, even when I tried to withdraw by taking a shaky step backward, using the doorframe to steady myself. My ears began ringing and he stepped closer, unashamed of the way he was eating me alive with his stare, and he only stopped when he was close enough to let me feel his deep, regular breathing, warm against my skin.

That smell of cinnamon and sex was thick and consuming, but there was more beneath the candid smell that was Vladimir Tepes. Something I couldn't place as he moved even closer, intimately forcing my back to the wall.

Hovering over me like a lion over the lamb, Vladimir continued to smile. Smart lamb that I am, I knew I should run. I should fuck the agony and my body's utter refusal to make one more bone piercing move, and I should run.

But I didn't. I just stood there, half cowering and half swooning over the most dangerous man to ever walk the earth. I couldn't move, no matter how hard the intelligent side of my brain screamed at me to bolt and never turn back.

Even when I felt those razor sharp teeth slicing into my back. Even then, I should try to get away from the eyes of this monster.

My body reacted to my thought processes, forcing another excruciating swell of pain to beat into me. As simple as that, I no longer had the power to move, let alone flee the man I was absolutely positive would be the death of me.

A distressed sound fell from my lips and my legs gave out beneath me. I expected the floor to rise up and slap me in the face. Instead, I fell into his waiting arms. With a graceful swoop worthy of any early Hollywood flick, I was caught in the enemy's embrace, and like the pathetic invalid I was, I turned my face into the stone cold chest and began sobbing in full, despite the fierce splintering inside my body that accompanied every pitiable wail. (nice)

I cried and shook uncontrollably, even as he picked me off the ground and nestled me into his arms as if I were a shy virgin bride. He covetously wrapped me tighter against him and I didn't protest. Not a single peep as he carried me into his manmade forest of terror, deep inside his castle of sin.

And, for that reason, I sobbed more.

Not for _where _he was taking me, but because I didn't even care. From the very second his eyes caught mine, even before I ended up collapsing into him, I _wanted _him to take me. Whatever fear, whatever anger I had controlling me when I took that first step into this twisted place, went out the fucking window when I realized the thing I was so positive was leading me to Edward, in fact led me to the very man I wanted to escape. That feeling, that _need _was what guided me, and it all turned out to be the lure of Dracula, the temptation of another life, one that outright appalled me.

And didn't.

And so I bawled my dry little eyes out, until they swelled with unshedable tears and filmed with a salty mist. He'd stopped walking awhile ago, but held me as I cried into his hard chest. His steel embrace only tightened the more I trembled, the more the pain bubbled its way over me repeatedly.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was coming for Edward, not _him_. Vladimir's hands began running through my hair, easily pulling through the tangles, soothing me. And pissing me off because it worked. I loathed this man an hour ago.

My mind travelled back to that very real and suffocating connection that pulled me down here again. That kind of raw intensity was something I associated with Edward. In the previous life I'd been reliving, I had felt more than strong physical attraction toward Vlad, but nothing like this. Nothing in comparison to the way I thought I felt about Edward. My breath actually caught in my throat the first time I laid eyes on Edward after fleeing from Volterra. A deep worry line had been chiseled into his forehead, half concealed beneath the strangely colored sexhair he wore so well.

And the first time my skin grazed his? Like a planet aligning with the sun. That alone had been earth shattering.

Then the first flame of intimacy, stoked with lies and frustration, was beyond indescribable; the gasps, the moans, the immediate understanding there was nowhere in this entire universe I felt more right than burying Edward between my thighs, was beyond explanation.

And for all of his fierceness, all his bravado, all his indecent capacity to love, it wasn't enough. I crumbled as I realized that connection was overshadowed like a weed beneath a Redwood. It was something I didn't even want to understand, this bond that pulled me to Vlad's arms instead of Edward's.

But there I was, tucked into Dracula like a suckling babe, and I couldn't push away. I didn't want to.

I wrapped my fists tighter into the thin black fabric of his shirt. His feather light touch still caressed my hair, still soothing, and my crying began to hiccup and finally slow. I wanted to be so angry. I want to kick and bite and punch and kill this man. I tried so hard to drudge up fury at myself for not being able to find the right emotions.

In the most terrifying instant of my life, I was completely severed from the ties that bound me to Edward, that the vigor and pure influences of his love was not enough to stop my soul from answering Vladimir's call. In the blink of Vladimir's catlike eyes, the most consuming force I thought I'd ever feel flickered, dimming slowly around the edges until it too seemed like a faded memory.

I pulled my weary face from the fine threads covering his chest. My body wept in agony over the quick movement, but I only shuddered a little as I looked up into his face. Gone was the cool indifference, the sharp stare and sinister smile. Instead, a bright glow seemed to spread from the smile that stretched his mouth, lighting those haunting eyes, stealing my breath.

"I knew you would come," he whispered like he was waiting.

And with no argument from me, no pushing or fighting, no kicking or screaming, Vlad's lips pressed into mine with a cool, slick pressure. Through the suppressed arousal and dulled horror bouncing in my thoughts, I kissed back. I molded my lips to his, tasted that sweet smell on them. My mouth opened, begging him for more, for more than I was willing to admit even to myself.

His cool breath hit my blazing face as he pulled away. The pain, all but forgotten in the unexpectedness of the kiss, roared back to life inside. He saw it raging and a shot of pain streaked through his own eyes as he bore witness to mine.

I couldn't really understand any of it. Not that look, like he hurt when I hurt; not the fact that I couldn't make myself turn away from him; not why it had been _his_ soul calling to mine. I was dizzy, falling into a whirlwind of misplaced emotions colored with angry self loathing. But in those few moments, everything else swirled to the edges and let me just gape in agonized wonder at the man who'd haunted my mind for weeks.

When he lowered his wrist to me, there was no question of his offering. There was no hesitation as I slid my sharp teeth across his pale skin, feeling the smooth texture of him before sinking them in one piercing movement. In a rush, Vlad's venom spilled into my mouth, coating the dried taste buds and dulling the harsh burning that had been roaring in my throat. I couldn't feel it over the other wounds in my body, but as his gift ran through me, pushed their power into my body, my senses were immediately heightened. Even as the pain receded, I felt every fiber of my body working to transfer the venom into energy and repair its wounds.

I drank deep and long from the wrist of Dracula, never once thinking about what I was doing or why I was doing it. In the moment, there was only the feel of his cold flesh under my lips and the pressure of his life giving me mine back. When he tried to push away, I held on, still savoring. I was nowhere near satisfied and not even close to healing. The agony of my chewed fingers and gnawed legs was less, but I wanted more of him. The taste, the burning rise of his strength as the venom slammed through my organs would never be enough. Like la tua cantante, there could never be enough of that sweet flavor.

Finally, Vlad shoved me hard in the chest with his free arm. I was still weak enough that my grasp loosened and was shaken out of the craze. I know when I looked at him, he saw the desire burning there. The craving to drink from him, to make him part of me, were the only thoughts as his worry quickly gave over to another brilliant smile.

"It's enough for now," he said in a voice rough with emotions I didn't want to place. "I have a gift that can truly heal."

Then, he was walking again, my body cradled in his thick arms. Curiosity overcame lust, but I'd be lying if I still wasn't licking his taste from my lips. It wasn't until I heard them that I understood. There, in the silence of the castle, six hearts raced fearfully. Alive and strong, they called me with the pounding of their blood.

When Vlad pushed open a door on the far side of his forest of impalement, I lunged from his embrace, tackling the first human I crossed. Five remaining heartbeats quickened, as the pulse of the one beneath my hungry lips faded into nothing. I dropped the body when I was finished and completely turned over to the rush of the invigorating blood. I jumped right back in to finish the massacre.

Afterward, I stood. My fingers stung happily as the feeding went to work on the inside of my wounds, and the carnage and gore that coated my skin began to heal from the outside. Human blood had capabilities beyond what even vampires had researched. Vlad's gift was surging through me, sewing me back together with the absolute fullness I gained from my gluttony.

The last body hit the floor with a thunk before I looked around at the other hapless victims of my all consuming lust. I probably gasped, but horror and terror barely began to describe what I felt when I truly saw what I had done. I was reeling from the slaughter and ran the back of a tingling hand over my bloodied mouth, realizing only after that I'd exasperated the mess with the blood from my hands. I wanted nothing more than to get it off of me, to wipe away this momentary lapse that created this kind of carnage.

Below my feet were the bloody and mangled bodies of children. The oldest not yet even ten, now broken and drained beneath me. I gaped at the horror I didn't think myself still capable of committing. There were no acts more heinous than preying on the young, and I had never stooped this low in this existence.

Until now.

But, in that last life, that life as the Dark Prince's mate, I _had_ been this breed of monster. I'd fed on children and infants alike. Young girls had been my favorite, like the ones now strewn about the ground like cast off relics of a lost childhood. Their hair, most dark and straight, was spread about their pretty faces as their lifeless eyes stared at things they'd never see. I hovered over the darkest sin known, accepting I was responsible for it, and I wearing my disgust as well as accession plainly. There was no hiding from this. I could even feel the strength of the blood boiling inside my eyes. I knew there was no stepping back from the edge of this, but the blood so rich in its innocence was like fire in my veins, and there wouldn't be anything that would dull the thirst so completely again. That understanding whipped me fast and hard. If there could be no going back from this moment, there was no hope. I did the only thing I could and looked up, searching for him.

Vladimir Tepes was grinning, appraising me like a proud parent pushing the hatchling from the nest. Even as part of me was dying over what I'd done, my lips twisted upwards in a mirror of his, and I actually felt deserving of that adoration.

Stepping over the bodies of the children, I stalked back to Dracula, never looking away from the force of his gaze. As always, it held mine, luring me to him. And the raw pull in my chest that linked directly to his.

Without a stumble or wince, I paced back, feeling my limbs repairing every time the fresh blood roared through them. I fell back into his open arms and the part of me that couldn't grasp what the hell was going on inside my fucked up head, stuttered a bit and went silent. I wrapped my body into his chest once again and let the surging potency erase anything that part had to say about it.

**A/N: So, I made a reference related to National Treasure 2, because I dig those movies a lot. **

**And I know this chapter is full of WTF, but it had to be done to tie it into the final badass craziness that I'm going to be throwing at you from here on out. **

**I know I told a lot of reviewers I only had a few more chapters to go, and I did say we'd be seeing what's befallen Edward, but I can no longer promise anything. This fic won't let me push faster than it wants to go. But I can promise the action is heating up, and the next chapter is packed...**

**Thanks for all those who read and review!** **Oh, and if you're bored, I made a little picture trailer for this story. The link is on my profile. Its cheesy, but I'm cool with that....**


	26. Momentum

**First off, nothing Twilighty is mine...**

**Secondly, huge shout out to Gondolier for the amazing turn around on this one. **

**Lastly, I've seemed to have found my mojo, so the rest of this is going up as quick as I can get it written. It's all coming together now!  
**

**Chapter 25**

**Momentum**

I might have gone further. I might have kept tracing my fingers over the planes and ridges of his body, through the thick black hair. I might have inspected every inch of his flavor with my tongue had the howling not erupted right over our heads and shaken me out of it. Vlad had no desire to stop reintroducing ourselves, but relented when I turned my head upward to the source of the sound. He uttered a soft growl, then grabbed my wrist.

I followed, because I honestly couldn't think of anything I'd rather do. This dark prince had me ensnared. This time, as my body weaved with his through the rows of stakes, I didn't even glance at the death. I hardly noticed the familiar scent of venom still rank in the air. Through the twisted hallway, over the spilled dirt and broken crates until I was stepping back on the stairs, I followed.

The howling continued, and I could hear the distinct timbre of two tones playing off each other, echoing through the blackness of the castle. Almost imperceptible beneath the roaring of the wolves was the low snarling of Vladimir's army, and as we went higher, I could hear more, sense more.

A fight. _A battle. _It was trembling in the air. Venom began coating my teeth in anticipation. I could _feel_ it as soon as I stepped from the stairs. The receding pain easily gave over to the new rush of adrenaline, and I found my body crouching lower with each step and my hand tightening in Vlad's as I took the lead. I was suddenly desperate to further taint my bloody hands.

A dark, choking cloud of smoke hovered in front of us. I could feel the density pressing on my skin as I pulled us through the thick air. The castle was still burning, but must have been contained in the room with the blood pool somewhere on this floor.

My thoughts hadn't been so disjointed since I was a newborn. My mind whipped through things at an alarming rate. The bloodlust, the arousal, the wickedness, all battering me until I could do nothing more than react.

I placed a flat palm against the door leading to the library. Memories flashed through me as I remembered the shelf-lined walls, the dusty feel of ancient texts between my fingers while I perused stories long since forgotten. I'd been here many times before.

This time, when the door swung inward, the peaceful solitude of the room was shattered. I was assaulted by a chaotic swirl of movement, some of it too quick to really discern through the smoke. A fiery scent scalded me, burning when I inhaled and instinctually triggering the knowledge of what it was. So, even though I had never seen the beast in this life, I knew exactly what it was before I saw it lunge through the mist and clamp its massive jaws around the head of one of the zombies.

What I didn't know was how easily the werewolf's rows of sharp teeth ripped through the undead flesh using much less effort than I had exerted decapitating one of them myself. I grinned a bit at its quick and devastating movements. It was built for this.

When I caught Vlad's face, my smile slid away and I admonished myself for cheering the wrong side. Vlad was glowering, sparks flying from his narrowed eyes. I had a second to graze my eyes over them before he turned and was charging the huge beast in front of us.

All hell officially broke loose.

From the side, a zombie rammed me, causing me to stumble sideways. My head hit the doorframe with a sickening crack, the wood splintered against my skull. I was still staring at Vlad as he lunged over the wolf and sprinted into the billowing smoke before I realized there were five other zombies milling around me, forming a tight wall and making me lean back into the door. The power of their stench overwhelmed my senses and I choked before holding my breath to keep it out.

Between the legs of the sudden guard, I could see two other pairs of feet running at us. One pair was naked and small as they charged forward, and both were covered in dry mud and bits of grass. Another howl echoed in the room and a sleek silver beast was suddenly on top of the guards, digging claws and teeth into the cracked flesh of the two zombies right in front. The sound of tearing flesh intersected the stumbling of the guards who were offset by the force of the werewolf's attack. The fallen guards' bodies slammed against the ground and the wolf began to tuck in with vicious enthusiasm.

The rest of my unexpected guard began to push together, sealing the gap, but I could still see as the other sets of feet hesitated. There was half a second when everything seemed to suspend. No one moved, spoke, and the screaming of the mauled zombies ceased. I took the chance and inhaled the thick smoky air deeply as the breath I'd been holding staled in my lungs.

I want to say that when I smelled them, I understood immediately, but that wasn't what happened.

In an instant the others lunged forward. One took down two more guards with a strong swing and the other fluttered in and out of reach of the groping zombies. They seemed desperate to grab, yet unwilling to move. They weren't really behaving the same way as the zombies that had attacked Carlisle and me. They seemed to be positioning me inside a barrier of protection, rather than trying to eat me. It was then I rose slowly to my feet.

The room seemed to vibrate with growls and snarls and the zombie guard began to fall one by one, until I was finally facing one of the attackers. Mud and venom streaked her pale face, but the familiar golden eyes flashed and Alice's entire face lit up as she saw me. Then, he walked up next to her, and my knees went weak.

Jasper's eyes caught mine, giving me a look of guilt, of uncontained anguish. But I just stared at them both, mouth open a bit, unable to speak. Why couldn't I fucking talk? This was Jasper and Alice. These were my friends. My best friends.

The inner struggle warred inside me. I just couldn't see past that connection with Vlad. All I wanted to do was feel that for eternity. Nothing else seemed to matter, and really, my mind justified, if he didn't see use for these two, why would I? It wasn't like I'd forgotten everything. The supercapacity of my mind kept each memory engraved there. But I found myself really thinking about which way to go and decided there was really no choice. All that mattered was that bond.

They seemed to recognize my hesitation. Alice raised a delicate hand toward me, but I shot a glance over her shoulder, my eyes drawn to Vlad emerging from the smoke behind them. It swirled around his feet in angry motions, even after he stopped walking. His eyes blazed into mine, red, dark, _thrilling. _He was holding something in his arms.

I could see what he was going to do from the way his hair lifted at the ends, propelled upward by an invisible force. It was a force I knew well, and well I should. He was harnessing energy, wrapping the coils around himself, readying to let loose my shield.

I thought for an instant about warning Alice and Jasper, and instead fell to the ground, effectively dodging Alice's reaching fingers. They grasped at nothing and I threw my arms up just as I felt the shockwave whipping over the top of my head. It impacted the walls of the castle causing them to shiver with violent aftershocks. I felt Jasper and Alice fly over me before colliding into the stone with a resounding crash.

I pulled myself up as their bodies slid to the ground. Jasper groaned and called quietly for his wife, but I was staring at Vlad. He looked weakened, much paler than I'd ever seen him, shoulders slouched forward. He seemed to be breathing hard, looking at the floor as if he were about to collapse.

I moved forward two steps, then stopped abruptly. My eyes turned into slits as some fine strands of hair fell in front of them. A roll of angry pain hit me…_from_ _behind_. And immediately I felt the tickling of my shield, back in place where my spine connected the base of my head.

It was like a light flicked on, the fog cleared, and I snarled loudly, eyes intent on Vladimir. It all made sense.

He'd been _manipulating_ me, stealing the powers of my own friends to turn me against them.

Vlad's eyes snapped up when he heard me. I saw how drained he was. He'd fed me the venom from his veins, and as his strength surged through me, the power of my shield stripped everything he had left. He hadn't known the kind of energy it took to throw the shield with as much force as he had. I'd only done it once, and it nearly killed me along with the rest of the Volturi. Now, his eyes were stunned. Creases formed at the corners as he clenched them, closing them from my angry glare.

Like a shot, I charged. He didn't even flinch as I took the first hard swipe at him. But, instead of slicing through the marble skin I'd been caressing moments ago, my hand flew through empty air. Shocked, I turned my head and saw him standing perfectly still, eyes still shut, but the hint of smile playing on the corner of his mouth.

Again I struck out, throwing my strength at the end of my arm, but he dodged again with a little spin. Each time I struck out, he moved out of the way. Over and over, until my momentum pulsed and his flickered. He was using the absolute minimal power necessary to withdraw, and never striking back. He moved one step at a time, and kept me twirling in a frenzied dance around him while he stayed just out of my reach.

Frustrated, I dropped low, spinning my foot across the ground to knock him off the ever moving feet. I expected he would jump, and when he did, my fist swung upward, catching him hard between his legs. He crumbled to the ground in a pile. But there would be no reprieve from the violence.

The rest of the room swirled back into sudden focus, the cacophony of screaming and snarling as the zombies fought the wolves along with Jasper and Alice. Vlad had yet to twitch and they were on me, pulling and tugging at my arms and shoulders. They forcibly pulled at me, digging their claws into mine. Despite my kicking and thrashing, I couldn't wiggle out and in half a second, I was fifty feet from where Vlad had fallen.

Only he wasn't on the ground, now. He was standing and staring at me, eyes bright and wild. He was gaining strength back slowly. My shield tickled and faded. He was taking it back. But I knew he needed sustenance quickly to be able to replenish his body after exerting the force he used loosing my shield. I had to get to him, strike him down as I had his brother.

But the hands were like clamps around me, and my barely healed fingertips clawed the ground uselessly. I couldn't get away.

Tearing my eyes from Vlad's, I whipped my head around, desperate to catch sight of the others, but it was impossible to see anything in the chaos. There were zombies everywhere. I couldn't even count the numbers as they milled in and out of the black smoke billows. Their numbers seemed to have tripled from when we'd first entered the room and they all seemed to be stumbling around, intent on a purpose set by their master. They appeared unable to even change their course.

I caught sight of the first dark wolf again, as he plowed through a line of approaching zombies. He gnashed at them with snapping jaws, ripping pieces left and right. The army was trying to grasp at him, but he moved with elegant speed, dodging from their fingers. Suddenly, the silver wolf streaked in and attacked the ones that were chasing the other from behind. The sound of their teeth tearing apart the mindless things pounded in the dense atmosphere like a beacon.

Again, I had the undeniable urge to join in and tear apart these monsters. Then Alice appeared, kicking one of the zombies clutching my wrist. When her foot made contact with its skull, the zombie's hand slipped away. Suddenly, there was a deafening roar and I was completely free. I turned my head toward the sound and saw Jasper as I never had before.

His blonde hair was flying around his face as he tore into one, two, three zombies without batting an eye. He thrust his arm through empty chests, yanked limbs from their sockets, and smashed burned faces with his fists. Without pause, he ravaged the zombies around me. The fury was evident, but he focused it intently on the kill, losing himself to the darker side he fought so hard to control.

I found strength in the violent, experienced motions. He was a trained soldier.

And so was I.

I jumped to my feet, intending to run and aid my friend as he continued the massacre, but Alice was in front of me, her spiked hair practically tickling my nose at her closeness.

"You're okay!" she shouted, not bothering to hide the look that crossed her features.

"Disappointed?" I asked, picking up on what her eyes were telling me.

Then her arms were around me, her hair against my neck and she was crying. With eyes flashing everywhere at once, I lifted trepid hands and patted her back lightly. But I couldn't see Vlad. He was no longer staring me down.

I pushed off a bit, forcing Alice to back up.

"Where is he?" I muttered beneath my breath. Then, catching Alice's golden eyes again I let the uneasiness roll through me. I said it louder. "Where the fuck is Vlad?"

Alice's head began snapping around as quickly as mine. The wolves had joined Jasper, standing as guard over him as he finished the remaining zombies who'd been holding me. They snapped as other undead warriors tried to jump in. They all seemed to be aiming for Jasper now, trying to avoid the wolves' biting jaws.

Still, neither of us could spy Vlad in the madness, and Alice looked ready to burst into tears. I put my hands on her shoulders, sensing her panic rise. I stared at her until she could meet my eyes and I let them burn into her.

"Is Edward with you?" I demanded in a strong voice.

She shook her head slowly. I could see she was close to losing it but she would be no use to anyone if she crossed that threshold. I had to keep her grounded, and there was only way I could think of to do that.

Looking her straight in her eye, I told her, "Go to Jasper. You need to get him and get out."

Her eyes widened. "Are you crazy, Bella? Do you even understand what Vlad's doing to you?"

"Yes," I assured her. "That's even more reason for you to go. He's using your abilities against me. If you're not close enough for him to intercept them and manipulate them, I might have a chance to find Edward."

"Or you might end up with your pants around your ankles," she muttered.

I narrowed my eyes at little Alice. "He's using Jasper to make me feel things that aren't _real_," I snarled.

I thought about that inescapable pull that had led me to Vlad in the dungeon. Not only could Vlad steal our abilities, he could manipulate them, twist them into horror. How sure I'd been that it was Edward's heart I was chasing through the black castle, only to find Dracula waiting for me at the bottom. Worse, I had accepted it so thoroughly that I dined on the blood of innocence. I'd been lost to the powers he held over me.

And if my friends remained close, they were putting more risk into the situation. Vlad had taken Jasper's empathic abilities as soon as he felt them, and he used them to lure me to his side. I gave into the call, so dumbfounded that I didn't meet the end I'd expected. I thought, for however brief a moment, that it was truly Vladimir's heart that captured mine.

But it hadn't.

When I could feel my own thoughts and emotions again, the truth was blaringly apparent. And that truth had messy bronze hair and a crooked smile sent from heaven. Edward was the only one I would want for eternity.

"That's why you have to go." I concluded my inner ranting aloud for Alice's sake. She had to see that it was the only way.

"No," she responded immediately. The conviction of her denial was fierce in her eyes.

I shook her shoulders with a hard jerk. She had to understand before they unwittingly became the death of me.

I was shouting when I said, "Vlad can assume control over me in an instant with Jasper at hand. Your visions could be used with much deeper consequences. I can't allow him that much power. Mine alone is too much. We can't compact the inevitable by giving him what he wants. Even if that seems to be me. At least I can stay in control of my emotions when Jasper isn't around.

"It's our only chance."

She was shaking her head, even as realization dawned. She knew what I said was true, but she still didn't want to leave me alone.

"Look, I sent Alec and Felix down the mountain. Find Felix and Emmett, and if you can get them strong enough, send them back in. Vlad can't use anything from them. Otherwise, keep away."

She looked shocked by my conviction.

"Now get Jasper and get out before it's too late for you, too."

Finally, she acquiesced with a dull nod. "Okay," she whispered. "But find my brother and get out yourself out, too."

"I will," I lied, and turned around and began running.

I sprinted through the smoke and to the door back to the main hallway without looking to see if she would really listen. I hoped so.

I raced through the pitch blackness, holding my breath as I ran, trying to keep the foul burning scents from my mouth. The entire castle was now a thick blanket of smoke. It couldn't last much longer. It was smoldering away all around me.

I didn't even think about where Vlad might have gone, but I had the inkling he knew I'd figure this out. Where I'd find Edward, I'd also find Vlad. After all, he'd been twisting my love for him all along.

My instincts told me I was going to Edward when I raced to the dungeons earlier. And he'd actually been there when I thought I was feeling him. Vlad had fiendishly preyed on the connection that I knew belonged only to my Edward, using Jasper's abilities as soon as he and Alice were close enough to sense. And I fell for it. I believed the manipulation, not even thinking that Edward lay hidden close by, bearing witness to my atrocity.

And that was too much to take. I felt used and guilty, manipulated and ashamed.

I couldn't change what had happened. I had fallen into Vladimir's arms as if I belonged there. I had felt like it, too, but I'd be damned if I played the part of naïve vampire any more. I was determined to stay in control of my consciousness. I would not allow Vlad the power to make me second guess my heart. Never again.

I flew down the winding staircase, back to the pit, driven with intent and anger. Even if I had ruined my eternity with the unbearable weaknesses, I would find Edward and save him. No matter what it took, he would live.

I could no longer consider myself good enough to be a part of the Cullen family. I was a true monster. It was engraved in my soul from the past violence I'd committed and reared its head at the worst possible moment. And I couldn't change that, just as I couldn't give back those kisses bestowed on a murderer's lips or give back the young life I had stolen so viciously.

But I could save Edward. He was as perfect and faultless as I was broken and weak. I wasn't the one for him. I was completely vile, poisonous; and I refused to contaminate him ever again. He was the only man I'd ever want, but I wouldn't be selfish when it came to my love for him.

So as I wound my way back through the mess of broken crates and spilled earth, I made a vow to myself, chanting it over and over with the drum of my feet against the ground.

I would set him free.

**A/N: I still respond to every review. Well, occasionally one or two slide through the cracks, but I love talking Twilight, twific, and Breaking Ties, so holla!**


	27. Agony

**Nothing Twilight belongs to me.**

**Big thanks to Gondolier for all her wonderful insight and phenomenal beta skills. I love you woman!  
**

**Ahem, you've been waiting for this, but I'm sorry it isn't pretty...**

**And this is for all my great reviewers. I love you guys. And especially the ones who go out of their way to hint it was time I post...reem...)**

**Chapter 26**

**Agony**

There was no time to react. Just as I placed a palm on it, the dungeon door flew inward and a gust of wind whipped into me. It was strong enough to knock me backward, throwing me hard on my back in the hallway beyond. Everything was deathly quiet aside from the whoosh of my shield as it continued down the hall. It had nowhere near the same force as he'd used before, but I could tell he was learning. Vlad was taking to my gift better than I expected.

I bounced back to my feet, peering timidly ahead of me. The gloom was pressing, the lantern finally extinguished with the gust from my shield. It was darker than the blackest slate, but I walked forward. If I didn't keep moving, I was liable to run.

Then, I heard it: groan so soft, I couldn't be sure it wasn't a figment of an overzealous imagination.

But I was running with no further thought, twisting aimlessly through the broken and occupied impalements, into the darkness. I barely stopped short of ramming into the lifeless body.

I skidded, blinking quickly. A sweet, familiar taste was on the tip of my tongue, caressing it with the intimate aroma. Slowly, the darkness popped and bubbled with light as my eyes adjusted.

I realized was gazing at knees. The jeans were stained with thick black venom and covered in dirt and filth. Gravity pulled them toward the floor, exposing slim ankles below naked feet. The blunt end of a round spike

A trail of venom dripped steadily from the point of the wound, travelling in a thick current inside the faded t-shirt and down his neck and face. And if that weren't enough, his arms were spread painfully far and in the wrist of each was another iron nail and another stream of precious venom running between the dexterous fingers that had played me beautiful melodies not so long ago.

I shuddered violently.

Vladimir had crucified him.

I threw myself low, staying on the balls of my feet and let out a weak cry. My poor Edward, eyes clenched tightly shut in plain agony, looked like heaven to my weary soul but the terror of seeing him like _this _was biting. I raised a careful hand and ran a thumb from his sharp chin down his angled cheek. His eyes moved back and forth beneath his lids, but he kept them shut, staying completely silent.

I whispered his name into the darkness while I leaned close enough for my breath to hit his lips. My tongue relished in the way his name sounded through my low voice, like it was the first time I spoke it. Edward blinked in response, his mouth opening slightly.

"Bella?" he whispered back in a voice weak and drained.

I cried his name louder this time and leaned in, barely grazing my lips with his. Even that feather touch was enough for his eyes to clench shut once again, one tremble of agony rolling through him. Then he was still.

"Not enough?" His voice was like a breath, the question dying at the end, but I couldn't understand what he meant; there wasn't time to puzzle it out.

My hands were reaching anxiously for the stake in his middle, determined to save him from the appalling cruelty when something moved behind me. I was back on my feet and turned in that direction, hunting the shadows with my keen eyesight, looking for the source of the sound. I wouldn't let any threat get near my torn lover.

The smoke was much thicker in the dungeons now, boiling and tumbling in a dozen currents of its own. It swirled around the stakes and the impaled bodies, caressing the shredded timber where my friends had been tortured, and distorting everything else.

It was impossible to see anything concrete. It was too surreal, more dreamlike than reality. Things seemed to be creeping everywhere, just out of sight. But there were no detectable scents apart from Edward's flowing venom and the bitter taste of the burning castle.

My eyes were playing tricks on me in the darkness. When I reached up to wipe at them, I heard a footstep. Again it came from behind.

I turned, staring around Edward's legs, seeing only smoke and darkness, but feeling very much a deer caught in the headlights. There was something there. My instincts were pulling my body low, preparing it for attack, even if my senses couldn't tell me who was stalking me through the maze of stakes. I learned the hard way that I could only trust instinct.

Crouching low, I watched the shadows dancing around me, black on black. I felt the movement more than saw it, but I could tell he was close. The instant the taste touched my tongue, I pounced.

My right fist connected hard with Vladimir's jaw, and his eyes widened with surprise as he was knocked off balance. I took the opportunity to attack him again, crushing his chest with a quick kick. I landed lithely on my toes, watching as Dracula bent forward under the pressure. His feet stumbled backward a few steps. I carefully inched toward him, closing the distance.

Vlad's eyes looked up and met mine, seizing my glare as a thousand emotions rolled through him. But I didn't want to give him a chance to shake off the last hit, so I lunged again, this time crashing into his stone torso and knocking him hard onto the ground. His back smashed into the floor, the stone giving way beneath his weight. My knees were on top of his thick upper arms, pinning them beneath me in case he tried to struggle.

With an unbelievable strength, I pulled my fist back and threw it forward, sinking it into the Dark Prince's regal nose. Twice more I slammed my fist into his face, each punch cracking the marble skull beneath the predator's mask, only thinking of what he'd done to Edward.

After the third hit, Vlad's disfigured and venom streaked face twisted horribly, his bleeding lip curling into a sick smile. The scent of his bleeding nose tickled my throat, inviting me to take a drink. The thirst and power of it called for me, daring me to take it from him once more.

"You killed my brother, he said.

Then, he laughed.

Taken back for only a moment, I punched him again, feeling my strength weakening.

"After you tried to kill everyone I've ever loved!" I snarled back viciously.

Why the fuck was he still laughing?

I struck again, drops of venom flying from the impact, staining my face, my hands, mixing with the rotting gore already covering me.

"What's so funny?" I yelled at him, punching again and again, but my rage did nothing to wipe that look from his mouth. And the more I struck him, the more twisted and skewed it became until his nose was crushed and angled oddly and one eye was swollen shut and black from venom. If anything, he looked like the Devil himself, smiling and laughing at my attempts to ward him off with barely more than a vial of holy water.

I'd never been a religious woman. I couldn't say for sure if I believed in God, but I sure as shit believed in the Devil. I was staring him the eyes.

My anger grew, piling on top of itself. But without my shield, I had no way to release it all at once. I had to make do with physical aggression to get the rage out. While I struck, my mind kept seeing Edward, upside down and bleeding, nailed to a cross like some.

I grabbed two fistfuls of Vladimir's soft hair. It curled around my fists as I yanked his head from the floor before slamming it back down with all my force. The laughter turned raucous, further fueling my rage.

"_Why are you laughing_?" I screamed, bringing my face to his. The cinnamon flavor of his breath hit my face as he gasped for air.

He stopped and stared deep with his one open and swirling black eye. "It is a very thin line between passion and rage, isn't it, Bella?" he whispered, and the laughing started again from deep in his chest.

His amusement caused my body to shift slightly and my weight was displaced for a moment. But it was long enough.

He shoved my legs, and I was flying through the air. Then, his body struck mine, forcing me back down. The tables turned in an instant, and I was the one pinned. Breathing in deeply, Vladimir leaned his distorted face toward mine slowly, letting it hover inches above. Large drops of his venom snaked through his mustache and fell onto my face.

"I could take you now," he hissed, flavor slamming into my senses. "I could take you in any way I desire."

As if to prove this point, Dracula drew a long pale finger down my face. I struggled beneath his straddling legs, but it was no use. Drained and weak as he was, his pure physical strength would undoubtedly hold out longer than mine.

A bead of his venom landed on my lips. My tongue darted out and licked it away. Vlad's eye flashed as he caught every movement, devouring it with his stare. I was disgusted with myself, even as his flavor coated my tongue, causing my own venom to flow at the back of my throat, demanding more.

I had to swallow it down to keep from choking as it pooled. He glanced at my throat and the smile crept back over him slowly. He drew his finger down the soft curve of my neck line. Shivers of aroused pain swam through me. I was so fucked.

"We could have been everything," he whispered, eye still locked on my throat.

It was the tone he used, soft and heartbroken. It told me I was at the end. His shoulders slumped forward infinitesimally, but he never looked away. This was going to be my last chance.

"We still could be," I managed to choke out, my voice rough and wet. I hoped it concealed my lie.

He paused and looked into my eyes for a moment. Pain continued to shudder through me in waves but I lifted my hand to his, grabbing on tightly.

"It's too late for that."

"No," I gasped, clenching his fist tighter. I had to save Edward.

With a heavy sigh, Vlad closed his eyes and let my hand drop uselessly.

"It is far too late," he repeated with a sharper edge to his tone. "Elizabeta was mine from the beginning. But, you are most definitely not that, even if you do possess her soul."

He reopened his eyes and a truly intimidating look passed the man's face. He glared at me, revealing a hint of white teeth, as a twisted benevolence settled over him.

"I want it back, Isabella."

A groan slid from my lips and Vladimir Tepes stood up quickly and towered above me. His hair began to dance around his face and disbelief rolled through me. How in the hell was he getting enough strength to keep using my shield? But there was no time to dwell; he was already snapping it out.

I consciously pressed my body into the ground beneath me, trying to stay under it. The tail wind glided over my chest as it spread outward with a whoosh. But, it is what I heard after will haunt my memory for the rest of existence, even if that would only be a few moments more.

All Edward's agony, all his suffering, his _anguish_ took form, screaming from his body. It resounded everywhere at once and bashed into my helpless body, sliced through everything I was, shattering my soul. But it was the silence following love's agony that finally broke me. There was nothing when the echoes died away. Not Vlad. Not Edward. Only a quiet stillness while my tortured mind shrieked inside.

"Edward," I gasped. My voice was shaky and cloaked in despair until it didn't sound like me. There was no answer, only the pressing silence that built the panic inside my searing chest.

"_Edward_!" I screamed out, using every bit of energy I had to swing my head toward his crucified body.

He was no longer hanging upside down from the inverted cross, but lying in a heap beneath it. I could see the palm of one hand had been torn from its nail. His chest and feet must be in a similar state, but that was the least concerting. A dozen large poles were jutting from his lifeless form. He was bleeding out before my eyes and I could do nothing to help.

Worse than a monster, I was completely useless. Grief consumed me with a soft sob.

Vladimir chuckled and walked in front of my lover lying so still and just out of reach. The dark Romanian prince bent low so I was looking into his feral eyes again. A small drop of Edward's venom beaded in his mustache along with his own. It clung to the dark hairs as Vlad curled his lips back into the evil smile.

"I can love you," I whispered hoarsely, choking a bit on the lie in my throat.

Vlad chuckled. "You could, but you wouldn't. Not even with _planned _handling. I can see that, now I have your mind at my disposal."

He touched my cheek tenderly again. His eyes were sure.

"I suppose in time, you would learn to love me, but that could take a millennium. Your soul remembers mine. My scent, my taste, it beckons you. You feel it, but your mind is willful. You waited half a century to find me again, but I do not blame you for settling."

I glanced back to Edward. He hadn't moved yet, and looking at him felt worse than breaking, so I forced my eyes to follow Vlad's path again.

I had never settled.

Vlad turned to my dying lover. "None of it will matter much longer. I have infinite patience, even if I must start over. My black princess _will_ be mine. I have limitless hope for the future."

His snarled the last of it and his head turned back to me. His eyes flashed like wildfire, unrestrained in madness they held.

"All that I am and all that I have ever been is yours for eternity. I can wait, my dear. I have _forever_."

There was nothing else to do. If I couldn't stop the inevitable, I could at least make amends to Edward for every lustful thought, for every heavy sigh. If it was the last I would do, then I would do it. With that final thought lingering in my mind, Vlad moved next to me with one sudden movement. Those strange, icy fingers caressed my temple and slid quickly to my throat before he bent low and grazed his nose against the sensitive flesh below my ear.

I turned my head back to Edward, so broken and still.

"All that I am is _his_."

A roar, violent and crashing, rang out, and everything went white. Blinded by the howling intensity, it felt him stab into my neck. Slowly, the burning took over and I could feel him, drawing me in like a lover. I could feel the icy lips against my exposed neck, teeth digging deep. And he pulled long draws of my venom into him.

Exhaustion gave to euphoria, even through the biting pain, and a lull settled over me as I truly felt Vlad, felt his hands linger over the thin cotton covering my breasts, and travelling further. Him slipping his rough palm smoothly into my jeans. He moaned as his fingers slid over me. The tremors that ripped through me were both disgusted and aroused.

So involved in every sensation as it crept across my body, I almost missed the tingling sensation, tickling at the base of my spine. I nearly dismissed it for the disgusting lust surging with the pain and arousal everywhere in my body. But, suddenly it was there, Vladimir letting it slip from his grasp in his desire. Even through the final haze of consciousness, my power called for me.

I didn't even coil to sustain a bigger impact. I wouldn't have the energy anyway. I just pushed out with every bit of strength I could gather in that second and it was enough that Vlad was torn away from me. Venomous teeth serrated the sensitive skin against my jaw, tearing me open like a cannibal would his dinner. He was thrown into the shadows, his body crashing against the floor with enough force I felt it as I laid there.

I knew I only had a moment before Vlad became unfazed and was back on me. I scrambled to my feet with slow, uncoordinated movements, my body fighting against my muscles. I could feel the venom sliding down my neck and under my shirt as I dizzily stared around. I lightly touched the bite, disgusted by the sticky poison.

Swaying a bit, I saw him through the darkness. Vlad was back on his feet, crouched for attack. But the dizziness clawed at the edges of my mind, threatening to pull me away again. As drained and weak as I was, if I let the heaviness win, I was sure I'd never wake up again. Then, he would be on me to finish the job.

Out of nowhere, a scent of ammonia swept over me, penetrating through my gasping breaths. The haze cleared a bit, leaving swirling the vision, but I was alert.

A shock of brown fur flew over me, landing with a crash. I rolled my eyes slowly and blinked, trying to refocus, but the brown fur was hard to define through my disconnected eyes. A low growl ripped from the beast and it was lunging too quickly for me to follow.

Echoing growls and hissing whirling from the blackness, only interrupted by the sound of ripping flesh. The werewolf fought Dracula and judging from the revolting sounds swimming through my ears, both were taking heavy hits.

Before I had the chance to blink away my shock, another wolf whimpered and moved into my field of vision. I stared, eyes wide, dangling on my impalement like a dead fish. It was the same silver wolf from before. One of the wolves that had been with Alice and Jasper. What were they still doing here?

I caught an enormous brown eye before a crack sounded and the burnt smell heightened, _sharpened_. Before my eyes, the wolf's muscles began vibrating, shaking violently. They reorganized beneath its flesh and the fur seemed to singe away as I watched. Its bones twisted at awkward angles, then smoothly bent until she was standing straight and naked before me. With a swift movement, the newly formed woman bent down, muscles rippling under dark skin layered with a thin coat of gray ash.

She stood, pulling a pair of cutoffs up with the movement, and threw on a threadbare tunic. The ash covering her skin disintegrated as tiny beads of sweat washed away the remains of the miraculous transformation she'd undergone. Now, a woman stood before me, strong and proud, and staring with a cold look in her dark eyes.

It took all my strength not to beg for her help, but the way her eyes pierced mine made me wonder if she was really a friend. So instead of speaking, I just looked back stupidly. Her stinging scent began to permeate the area, dulling my reaction to it, and the dizziness swam back in unheeded.

"They're coming," she announced sounding almost bored, but began shifting on the balls of her feet with impatient nervousness. I rolled it around in my head, making sense of the softly accented beauty.

But more importantly than the genetic marvel before me, I wondered who she meant, but guessed she meant the pack. Instead I asked the only question that really mattered.

"Where's Edward?"

She only looked down and to her left, the brown eyes tearing me in a way I never expected. Her silence was no answer but still enough. Sobs spilled from me, loud and hard, and my body clenched in horror, as I pulled myself to the dark heap the she-wolf stared at.

He looked so broken, so lifeless. The cruel rods sticking straight from his body like a flesh and bone pushpin. With a gentle caress, I pushed the bronze hair from his closed eyes, and looked at the angelic face. If he wasn't covered in gore and venom, shredded and torn, he would look like he a sleeping angel. But he wasn't asleep so it was with anguished thoughts that I moved my hands slowly to the first impalement.

It jutted straight up from his arm, but when I grasped it in a weak fist I realized Vlad had pushed the wood much farther in. With careful, slow lifting, I raised my arm, feeling Edward's impaled flesh clench around the other end. Caught momentarily in a demented game of tug-o-war with his body, I finally had to use real force to pull it out. A cry left me when the impalement was freed and I gazed at the pointed stick with wide, dulled eyes.

_How could this be happening_? I wondered as I watched Edward's venom slide down the aged wood in thick rivulets and splash onto the ground.

Only then did I even notice the pool of sludge I was kneeling in. Black and heady, Edward's venom was splayed around me, swirling with the coagulated mixture of the horrors on my own clothes and skin. Worse than Vladimir's running fountain of blood, Edward's very life lapped sluggishly at my legs, threatening to pull me away with the nauseating repetition of the swells.

There was too much. Way too much.

I wasn't really aware of anything else after that. The only thing I could see was Edward's venom seeping into the ground beneath me. My hands worked feverishly to pull each of the remaining impalements out of his chest and arms, to remove the things that would dare mar his beauty. The sobbing was far away, even if I knew it was me. I kept away from that side of myself, throwing my weak arms around the motionless man when I had finally cast the last stake aside.

My face fell into the damp and stained fibers of his shirt. I inhaled deeply with each shudder that ran through me. His scream from earlier repeated in my head, haunting me like a nightmare I couldn't escape, until I heard nothing else. Even if I knew the sound of howling sounded from somewhere inside the castle, I only heard that scream, hoping it would not be my final memory of the only man I was capable of loving.

I was certifiably cracking. My body rolled in tremors of agony. I felt it starting at the base of my soul, and spider webbing outward, consuming me in a rush of splintering insanity.

Suddenly, my body was lifted from the ground, by a pair of strong arms, and I was being wrapped into the broad chest. Immediately I knew my oldest friend, his taste more familiar than my own, and I crushed into him. He was trying to shelter me away from my fury, from my anger. With controlled patience, he attempted to draw the demons out of my body with his embrace, but these weren't the hands I wanted. All I could do was cry into him.

Weak and immobile, I slumped forward, letting him hold me and take away anything he could. But relief was not to be found.

The castle suddenly erupted in a flurry of howling, marking the entrance of at least half a dozen more werewolves. And the answering call of the Tepes army was not to be ignored when their dry wailing met the wolves' call, shaking the walls even deep inside the dungeons.

"We have to go," Felix urged suddenly, and began to move.

He was half carrying me as my legs slipped around beneath me. I felt too heavy, too tired, and, "What about Edward?"

I was not too weak to forget him and Felix caught on quickly, but didn't stop to meet my gaze as he moved through the room, back to the hallway.

"Leah," was all he said.

When I looked over his shoulder through my heavy lidded eyes, I saw the she-wolf. Slung over her shoulder like a bag of dirty laundry was Edward. I found myself more comforted than shocked. Felix lifted me into his arms and began running up the twisted staircase. The soft rhythm of his footsteps lulled me and the dizzy haze swirled in. I easily shut my eyes.

"I glad you're okay," I murmured into his shoulder, really meaning it even though the sigh my body sobbed into his shirt was suffocating.

Even if we were escaping. Even if Edward was right behind, held in the arms of the powerful female wolf, my self-loathing was already more than I could bear. It had already taken the pieces of me that meant anything, leaving me feeling as beaten as my unmoving lover. None of that had changed.

And Dracula still lived.

**A/N: Ok. Let me have it. **


	28. Caught

**Nothing Twilighty is mine…obviously.**

**Big thanks to Gondolier who turned this around so fast my head is still spinning. And to all my lovelies who review…it's almost over…but not time to take a breath yet. **

**Chapter 27**

**Caught**

Edward hadn't uttered a sound since that horrific scream. He hadn't moved, or blinked, or exhaled. I was listening. I could hear the she-wolf, Leah, panting regularly behind as if she carried no burden at all. In fact, if it weren't for the stagnant odor of his venom-doused clothing, I wouldn't have really believed he was behind me at all. Even still, I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. It was too simple.

But as we reached the main hall of the castle, my love's tortured scent burned away. The air was much warmer. I could feel it beating into my battered body. The smoke was so thick that instead of pitch blackness, everything was shielded by a thick haze of steely gray. Not that I had my eyes open for more than a moment, but when I realized he was heading for the front doors, they shot wide.

"We're going to make it," Felix whispered when he felt my body tense against his.

"What about Vlad?" Panic raged in my weak voice.

We couldn't just leave. Vlad would be on us again and we'd never see him coming. This had to end here.

Without pause, Felix kept moving through the boiling smoke. The fire roared on all sides just behind the smoldering stone walls. It echoed over everything, even the howling wolves.

"We're getting out of here, Bella. We'll figure that shit out later."

I couldn't even respond. I was nearly blinded by the brightness as Felix shoved open the ancient wooden doors. Beaten, bitten, and thoroughly abused, my body responded, gathering strength from the warmth of the sun's strong rays and basking in the short reprieve from the dark castle.

But relief is too often fleeting.

My head snapped up when the dissension of sounds made it through the confusion in my head. The crashing and ripping was deafening and my eyes scoured over the fray. Werewolves were lunging as zombies bit into multicolored fur. The air outside stank of death and venom with the sharp ammonia from the wolves, but there was only a moment for everything to penetrate my dulled senses. Felix was already racing through the center of it, straight for the tree line through the bloody battle.

I was jostled roughly in his thick arms as a headless zombie stepped right into our path. Its blackened hands only grazed Felix's jacket as he spun us both to the left. I watched over his thick shoulder as the zombie stumbled and fell, just as Leah's foot smashed into the wriggling thing when she came sprinting up behind us. She used the burned body for leverage and sprang forward an extra few steps.

I stared at Edward, still slung over Leah's shoulder. The bleeding had slowed from his torn feet, but the woman's shirt and pants were stained black. Felix was bounding forward again, and Leah easily kept pace. But they didn't see the werewolf lunging for one of the zombies and ran directly into their path. The black wolf smashed into us hard and Felix lost his grip when he fell toward the ground.

I crashed in a heap and rolled before finally coming to a rest on my face. I inhaled deeply, tasting the dirt on my lips. Felix would be right there to pick me up again.

But he didn't come.

There was the ripping sound, the sound of vampire flesh being torn, much closer than it had been. There was a soft canine whimper, very low. Then Leah was shouting. Like a ton of bricks, her voice slammed into me and wiped the haze away. She was speaking German, calling for help.

Placing my aching hands on the dusty ground next to my face, I pushed up with a pained grunt. My eyes widened instantly.

Felix was on his stomach, the zombie on top of him, tearing at his broad back with its shining teeth. The wolf lay a few meters off, whining now with a visible claw mark in its hide. Leah was bent over it, dark hair falling in front of her face, pressing a piece of cloth against another wound. That one was much worse. Deep red blood seeped between her fingers as she called out desperately.

I turned my head around frantically, looking for Edward only to see he had landed right next to me. Fresh venom was pooling beneath him and I watched it slide over the blackened earth and inch downhill until I was almost on top of it.

I only took that one moment to stare at Edward's life slipping toward me. I was weak. I could barely hold my head from the earth, but there was no other choice. I had let myself become so absorbed in this past life, I'd forgotten everything that meant anything. And everything was Edward. He'd endured my mindless infidelity, no matter if I'd been under Vlad's twisted mind games and I had to make that up to him. Reparations could come later, but it all meant nothing if I didn't get Edward to safety. Felix being eaten by the zombie, the she-wolf bereaving the wounds of her pack, meant nothing unless I could save _him._

I forced my aching muscles to move and slithered closer to Edward's broken body. He reeked of venom and wolf and death as stagnant and bitter as the taste in my mouth, but somehow I found enough energy inside myself to pull closer and wrap heavy arms around him.

My tendons and bones mutinied against my brain as I pulled us up. Holding him was straining, but the feel of his weight against my body was grounding. I could feel my feet and see the trees through the low smog.

I had destination, determination, and one foot miraculously lifted from the ground. As simple as that, I was running, past Leah still shouting loudly for her pack, past Felix who now thrashed his strong arms at the zombie on his back. I saw the beads of my friend's venom stark against the brilliant white of its teeth. But he was fighting, and I had faith in Felix's strength, forgetting he'd been impaled only a few hours ago.

The battle raged on all sides as I stumbled down the steep mountain. A chocolate brown wolf defended against the onslaught of three burned undead. From nowhere, two more werewolves bounded forward, teeth gnashing and freeing their friend from death, growling happily as their mouths clamped down on their targets.

I dodged further left to stay well away from them, only to see Emmett landing a sharp uppercut into the stunned face of another zombie. Emmett's face was wild, with tattered and venom-streaked clothes draped over his massive frame, but as always, his lips were spread in a wide smile, even as he quickly dismembered the ill-fated zombie.

I didn't stop. I just kept going, praying my family and the new found alliance with the wolf pack would hold out until I could get Edward under cover and feed him. And once I was sure he would live, I'd come back to end this, once and for all.

I stepped into the shadows and fatigue attacked me. My body swayed a bit inside the gloom, but I pressed forward, desperate to claim as much distance between Edward and the castle as I could. A few hundred meters in, the thick foliage cut off the sounds of the fight still raging and silence fell over me. Aside from my ragged and pained breathing, there was nothing else.

I finally paused, cradling Edward closer to me. This kind of empty quiet had come to leave me shaken and scared. A sense of dread crept over me and my mind echoed Edward's final scream over and over, a vicious repetition of the most agonizing moments of my life. I was frozen anticipation and absolutely terrified to take another step.

Sweet heaven above, Edward chose then to groan softly in my arms. All the fear slipped away and relief shuddered through my soul. That one soft, melodic tone told me everything I needed to know, and in an instant I was on my knees, laying him gently on the moss covered ground.

Feather soft kisses touched every part of his cold face, except his lips. He needed to give me those. I pleaded with him to open his eyes, to see my desperate love. Over and over his name spilled from my lips to his as I hovered over them. That ache, the pull and desire stung as the words fell to unhearing ears. But he was in there somewhere. I had to tell myself that he could at least sense I was here and I selfishly begged for more.

A branch broke. My eyes snapped up, scanning the trees for any sign of movement, but failing to locate the source through the maze of twisted trunks and hanging vines.

There was no other warning, if you can call it much of a warning in the first place.

A white blaze of pain suddenly shot through me, knocking the breath from my lungs. Pulsing outward in waves of agony and forcing me forward, my hands braced for impact, but my body stopped with a jolt. I was left floating two feet above Edward as fresh pain roared through my ears. Excruciating pain sliced through my chest until it was everywhere. I didn't know if I was being ripped apart from the inside out or exploding, but it was worse than any torture I had yet felt. My body went limp and spasms radiated through my muscles in stabbing flashes.

Shakily, I brought a hand to my chest. I think I cried out when my fingertips hit the thing penetrating the center of my sternum, in the exact place my heart once beat. But it was a pitiful noise as the realization dawned.

I was so fucked.

It took my entire strength to lower my eyes enough to see it. My sight was hazy and tinged white around the edges. Like someone had shoved a bunch of cotton inside my skull, dizzy panic enveloped me, muffling every sense except the pain. But slowly, it came into focus.

There, buried in the earth barely missing Edward's body and stained black with the poison from my body, was a spear. It pierced through my back, between two ribs, into my long dead heart, and finally exited gruesomely from my chest. Venom sputtered out in a fine spray around it, thoroughly coating the thick impalement in black. Gravity pulled it toward my love beneath me. The world seemed to stop as my blood spattered onto his venom-covered clothes. Nothing existed but the way our poisons pooled together, absorbed each other, became _one_, as they were meant to be, though never like this.

A deep, wicked voice echoed around the mountain, stabbing into my head, crumbling my will even further while I watched both our lives drip slowly away.

_Vladimir_.

I bit my lip, effectively shutting down the flow and tried to focus my eyes on the laughter. Moving my head, even minutely, caused the shooting pain to burst through my body. A soft cry fell from my lips, but that was it. I made myself relax and waited. It was the only thing I could do. To move meant to aggravate the agony.

My muscles were painfully starting to accept the burning torture, when the wound suddenly tore open again. I was lifted from the ground, losing sight of my beloved as the world spun around me in nauseating circles of blurred greens and browns. The ground became the canopy and my body rolled open. With arms hanging limply, my scabbed fingertips grazed the sticky pool of venom below. My legs bent awkwardly beneath me without touching the ground, bowing my back in a perfect arch.

The stake slid further as my weight resettled and I couldn't stop the sobbing this time. I tormented myself by letting the emotions weep from me, but it was impossible to keep them in. The rolling pain slashed through every inch of my body, and my mind felt every agonizing sting. This was far worse than any nightmare.

Like a shadow, Vladimir steeped from the trees. The impalement stuck sickeningly through the middle of my vision, severing his malicious smile as he came closer, reminding me too much of the cracked gargoyle burning while the zombies ate my flesh. He stopped only when he was too close and his smell antagonized my tongue.

Unable to do anything other than gasp, I stared at him.

And hated him.

Vlad's smile widened and he leaned closer.

"Tell me, Bella," he sneered with a voice cloaked in anger, "do you honestly think I would run from our little game?"

A choked gurgle sputtered from my mouth, but even my mind didn't know what I was trying to say. Instead, I wept.

Vladimir cackled again, a raw, angry sound. His madness seeped to the surface and boiled through that strained and wicked sound. He really did seem pleased to have me impaled at his feet. My body shuddered with my thoughts and he only laughed harder for my misery.

"Such a shame. You are so beautiful when given over to the beast within. You should have let it out to play awhile longer. We always have so much fun."

This time the noise from my throat sounded like the snarl I intended.

"How very like Elizabeta when you murdered the innocent," he mused further. "Ah, the memories. You are every bit the woman she was, there is no mistake. I saw her escape your restraints in the torture chamber, and I see her burning in your eyes now."

Vlad move closer, his cinnamon scent tingling my senses. His face was close enough I could almost feel his mustache against my cheek.

"You are the very same passionate and vengeful soul."

I tried to shake my head. I couldn't be that person. I'd fought so hard to put the sins of my existence behind me. I didn't want him to dredge up the foulness that tainted my soul. I didn't want him to remind me that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to rid myself of that blackness. That it would always be there, no matter whose light I attempted to hide behind. Over the past decade I'd tried to bleach myself clean of all that darkness. The moment I met Edward it became possible, if only for a moment, and for the first time I wanted to be better. I had reason to try.

"The same soul," he crooned softly.

Staring into the cold dead eyes of a real life nightmare, I was ashamed I had ever tried to be something other than what I was. How could I deny the truth when it was staring me in the face? I was everything Vlad implied. I was horrible, unworthy, and so veiled that no amount of love would ever be able to cleanse it away.

But even if I was unlovable based on centuries, and perhaps complete existences, of sin and impiety, I still _loved_. I was still capable of that, and that love ran deeper than the call of the most innocent of blood, further than the most exciting and lustful transgression. And that part of me, that aching, torn and decimated part, belonged to Edward.

"No." My voice was dry, a croak.

Vladimir Tepes smiled wickedly. "Oh, but you are," he whispered, a sweet, maniacal sound that hissed through my ear. "You're every bit the monster you suspect. Possibly even beyond what your mind is capable of admitting. I look forward to rearing that the next time I have you."

His fingers brushed the sticky hair from my face and he pressed his lips to my skin. It was unnerving that for the first time, his mouth felt warm against me. I felt him stretch my shield outward. It pressed against my body, pushing it further onto the wood. Bits of impalement splintered against my stone flesh, digging into my chest and driving into ribs. The gasp that came out was more of a gurgle as my thinned venom began to seep into my lungs.

"You'll have to tell me, my sweet Isabella, what it feels like to die," his hissed into my ear. "_Again_."

His teeth ripped into me and his hands mauled at my skin, tearing gouges into the hardened flesh. He shredded through my breasts and face as if it were butter. Torturous anguish ruptured into my core, seizing all my senses at once, leaving only the hum of agony reaping my mind. I knew it would be soon. He wasn't apt to linger in the final moments.

My mind found Edward and held him, imagining the feel of his body against mine, his wicked smirk that was a sin in its own right. How far I'd come since I first saw my bronze haired Adonis. How immediate and altering his presence in my life had been. If only it had been enough. I made the decision once to sacrifice myself for him, and the time had come to follow through. Once it was over, Vlad would move on. He _had_ to move on and let Edward live. Those were my dying thoughts. Edward had to survive.

As if answering the call of my mind, I heard the sweetest sound in my centuries of life. My heart fluttered viciously around the stake as the tone caressed my dying soul. It was low, a threat, but at least I'd have that. I could take his voice to eternity.

"_It was you_!"

A crash.

Snarling.

Nothing focused.

Were my eyes open?

What was happening?

Panic flooded through me. I couldn't see. I was dying!

Where was Edward!?

Chaos erupted everywhere, but I was drifting. The tethers binding me to my pale, undead body unraveled. Only one remained, and with all my might, I clung to that love for Edward. I was so weak, ready to let go, but he had to survive. I could hold on until I saw it through.

But it was impossible to discern anything. I just seemed to drift higher, despite the raw pain that told me I was still staked to the ground. Suddenly, my body was flying quick as a hurricane, a force slammed me free of the impalement. A flurry of dust rose around me when I hit. I tasted the grittiness on my tongue. There was shouting from everywhere and a thousand howls. The sounds ebbed and flowed like tides, but the only thing concrete was the dirt in my mouth.

It wasn't until the ground beneath me vibrated roughly that my eyes finally snapped open. But as soon as I realized I could see, I immediately wished I was blind again.

The battle had taken to the trees. Zombies and wolves fought everywhere, plowing through thick trunks and bombarding everything with blood and venom as they bit and tore at each other. I was almost relieved to see the black wolf that had sustained injuries earlier biting and slashing out with the others of his pack. They bounded amongst the slow zombies like well choreographed dancers, attacking with speed and precision despite taking many blows.

I could see Emmett charging. He was completely covered in venom now, swinging his huge fists into anything that dared get in his way. I caught a glimpse of little Alice running beside him, half using Emmett's cover, half taunting the army with her precise movements. But she too fought fiercely.

Alec was also nearby, eyes closed and concentrating. Felix was right at his side, protecting himself from the influx of the sandy haired vampire's ability. Around them a few zombies stood frozen, flipping their burned out eyes back and forth, but lost into Alec's imposed nothingness.

Wait, Vlad wasn't controlling his power?

I craned my neck the other direction, ignoring the stabbing pain seeping from my numerous wounds. There was Jasper. The sight of him made me both ecstatic and weary. If rage had a face, Jasper wore it well. I'd never seen anyone look as feral as he did; I could feel it palpitating in the air. With quick movements, he lunged at a dozen zombies. Grabbing one by the neck and another's reaching arm, Jasper twisted expertly. He kicked into the back of the one whose arm he clutched and it tore away with a screaming rip. The other's head was now cradled in the other arm, its body twitching beneath his feet. And he didn't even breathe before he slammed back into the remaining zombies, laying his fury out with his fists.

I continued pouring over the battle scene, glad that so far, the fighting had remained a distance from me. When I had been flung from the impalement, I'd landed in a bushy copse, somewhat concealed from the eyes of enemies. I pressed myself lower, unable to take any more pain.

It was then I saw him, on his knees, doubled over with an arm wrapped tight against his chest. He was choking. I couldn't hear him over the echoing madness, but I saw his body shake moments before a rush of thick black liquid emptied from his mouth. I wanted to cry out but my voice wouldn't open, and I realized my lungs were too full to function. No air, no voice.

Suddenly, a woman swooped low and bent next to him. Her hands comforted with tender motions, the way I ached to comfort. It wasn't obvious who she was at first, with her head hidden behind a thick furred hood. When it dropped away, I gasped. A bit of venom flew as I exhaled, but I didn't notice slide from my lips. I was too shocked to care.

Tanya. It seemed ironically natural that she would be the one.

That's when I saw the sisters. They were bent low, tearing at a body. It took an entire stunned minute for me to process whose body they assaulted, but the black silk shirt and dark cape were impossible to deny. It was Dracula, and the Cullen cousins were shredding the flesh from his bones.

While their sister comforted my Edward.

Seconds later there was a flash, and the sisters backed away from a small purple fire blazing from Vladimir's pieces. It smoldered lowly and with a sudden rush, fully ignited sending a dark violet cloud lazing toward the sky.

For the briefest instant, everything stopped. All eyes watched as the greatest living nightmare of all time went up in smoke.

All hell broke loose again, but this time, the clear advantage was at the hands of my friends. The zombies didn't even know what to do, and they were set upon like a smorgasbord. After a few more explosive minutes, no zombie was left whole.

Swiftly, fires were set all over the hillside, engulfing the trees in the sickly scent of death. All around me, the haze lingered. I shut my eyes, trying to force the sting away, but it wasn't the smoke. It was everything I had made the people I love suffer. How they fought alongside a worthless soul, a sick, demented, hateful soul. I should have protected them all when they needed it. I never should have given in so readily to the lustful images flashing in my mind, to the allure of a past life. But it served as more evidence to testify for my spoiled soul.

There was a thundering eruption from above, shaking the entire mount. Debris and stone rained from the tree tops, and a cloud of thick black smoke wafted through the forest. It was obvious what had happened. Castle Dracula was no more. There was finally an end to the dark dream.

I was crying, furious that I could have no relief from the grief. I was not good, incapable of good.

I shut my eyes, willing to die so I wouldn't have to face the man I loved.

**A/N: So there's one more chapter and G has convinced me an epilogue is warranted. While I think I answered all the burning questions in the next one, I want to make sure. If anything still isn't making sense, let me know in a review and I'll make sure all is tied up nicely. **

**Or, just review and go with me on blind faith…**

**That way works, too.  
**


	29. Endings

**The characters are not mine, though this twisted little plot is. Naturally, HUGE thank you to Gondolier, but I tweaked this after she beta'd so if you see glaring errors, its my bad. And for my lovely reviewers: you guys are the heroin to my addiction. Thanks for sticking with me and slamming me with your unbelievable fixes chapter after confusing chapter. This is going up early because I can't stand it a second longer.  
**

**Chapter 28**

**Endings**

_If people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever._

_~The Crow (1994)_

I paced back and forth, my nerves rolling through each step. I wanted to cry, but there wasn't emotion left to spare. It had all been drained away the moment he turned away. That had been more than reason to cry, but I wouldn't let myself. I was so undeserving; I could do nothing but accept the inane misery when he left. It was my fault it had to come to this, after all. I had no choice but to accept it, no matter how furiously my body and soul screamed that it was all wrong. It was selfish to believe a petty and cruel creature could ever dream of keeping him.

I had decidedly curled up into the proverbial ball and was waiting to die. There was no reason to live.

Alice clicked her tongue impatiently. My mood was draining on everyone, but I tried to stay deep in the bowels of Volterra and ignore my friends as much as possible. It was her own fault she continued torturing herself with my presence.

"Really, Bella," Alice chimed into my never-ending self-loathing monologue. "You have it all wrong."

I hissed in response and she bit her tongue, just as she did every time she approached the topic. But I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want _think about _it, even if it was the only thing I dwelled on every second of every day for the last two hundred and thirty-seven of them.

I already knew what I'd lost. It's amazing how fourteen days, the blink of an eye in the immortal existence, changed everything.

I sighed deeply so Alice would know I wasn't mad at her, but somehow it didn't seem to make things better. She fidgeted and finally threw herself off the floor of the chamber and onto her feet.

She let out an exasperated cry. "You are infuriating!"

With that, she stormed out of the room, angry footsteps echoing against the stone corridor as she retreated to the city. It was the same every day, yet without fail, she reappeared.

I tossed myself onto the ground and slouched against the cool stones. It was comfortable here, but no longer home. I felt I didn't belong anywhere except the one place that wouldn't have me.

The first six months had been a blur. Between recovering from nearly being ripped apart and trying to cope with the loss of my soul, I was a shell. I absconded from my position as head of vampires, handing the title and power to Felix. Graciously, he accepted, though not without begging. It should have been his long ago.

Once I was back to health, physically at least, I fled below Volterra to wallow in the guilt and shame that consumed me. I hoped to find solace in my dark and familiar tunnels, but they only served to remind me of the past cruelty. The cruelty that hadn't been influenced by a madman.

I replayed that day over. Edward, his arms holding me up as my legs barely supported my body, looking at me with black and hungry eyes. The pressure of it cracked me, but when he ran a gentle finger over my torn face, I crumbled in despair. I didn't deserve his pity. He was far too good to touch me this way.

I jerked away from his touch. Pain swam into my vision from every venom infected bite in my body. Edward looked shocked at the movement but dropped his hand away.

"I'm not good," I choked. "You don't deserve this."

He tried to stop me, but the truth of who I was couldn't be escaped.

"I can't do it. I can't." The words were pleading. Pleading for him to stay, begging him to go.

Edward tried to speak, but I shook my head. A look of misery to rival my own swam in those dark and weary eyes. He didn't want to let go. But he had to see. I had to make him understand that I was poisoned.

So I told him, my voice dry, more of a breath than a whisper, "Let me go."

And he had. He turned around a moment later, the pain blatant and miserable on his face, and I hadn't seen him since.

The entire thing was a mess, the murderous fantasy of a madman. Knowing what had happened, and knowing why it happened, did nothing to settle it. Just knowing that Tanya, the stupid bloodsucking blond cow who was boinking Felix, was the one who had finally disposed of Dracula with her finely manicured claws, left a bitter taste in my mouth. I hated to admit she was the ultimate savior. Keeping her out of Volterra was impossible at that point, and Felix sported his flag at full mast each time he was in her presence. The poor boy was smitten for the sexy succubus. But I did have enough humanity in my broken soul to grant him hope for happiness. My oldest, dearest friend, always there when I needed him, deserved to smile for no other reason than to have love in his life.

It didn't make Tanya any easier to tolerate.

Luckily, she had enough presence of mind to stay clear of me. That's why I was surprised when I heard the click-clack of high heels followed by her fresh, musky scent wafting from the hallway. I groaned, and judging by her raised eyebrow when she entered the room, it was obvious she had heard it.

She gracefully slipped beside me. Her strawberry hair rolled over her shoulders in soft waves, reminding me that my hair lay lank and tangled around my face. I hadn't really thought to care until I saw the immaculate appearance next to me. Her back was perfectly straight, carefully held millimeters from the grimy stone walls, but she kept her face forward. For that I was glad. The last time I had seen it, she was comforting Edward, looking ever the angel even after having saved the world from the devil.

For a long time we sat, neither of us moving or even breathing. She came here for a reason, and I would let her tell me what it was.

She started with a sigh. "You need to be there today."

Ah, I should have guessed. This was probably what Alice was trying to get at earlier.

"It's hard for everyone." She paused, voice low and worn. "I knew them both so well."

This was something else I didn't want to think about, and I'd done a good job of keeping my thoughts from turning in this direction. But it seemed Tanya was going to force them from me today.

"They are two of the most respected vampires I've met, Bella. You owe them your respect, too."

My head shook back and forth slowly. I couldn't. How could I ever say goodbye, knowing I'd been the cause of their deaths? I wouldn't. It was too hard.

From nowhere, a cool hand grasped mine. I could feel those perfect nails dig into my skin a bit, but she wasn't trying to cause pain. She was trying to console, and it was working. My head fell onto our hands as the sobs wracked through my chest, breaking open unhealed wounds.

"Both of them," I cried, misery swallowing my gasps.

"It couldn't have been any other way," she whispered. "Soul mates are forever; as cliché as it sounds, it's true."

Again she sighed, heavier than before. Her other hand was now stroking my back in a way too similar to how she'd comforted Edward. I wanted to pull away, but the desire to be comforted was stronger.

"Edward loves you," she finally whispered.

"He can't," I choked.

"He does, and he will. Don't you see what you've done? It's so easily repaired, and yet you do nothing! Love at your fingertips, pushed aside like it never meant anything. Your stubbornness blinds you. Open your eyes and look, damn it! The Cullens have suffered enough, _Edward_ has suffered enough, and it's time you ease some of the pain. This is my family too, and I can't stand by and watch this continue."

When she finished, her voice was hard and loud. But she remained still, her hand no longer smoothing tension from my back.

I didn't know what to say. She told me Edward wanted me still, even knowing the evil within, even knowing I'd been bred to be a murderous soul, life after life. I couldn't escape what I was. Those two weeks when Vladimir had stalked me told me so.

"I'm not good enough," I finally choked.

Tanya rose with a huff. Her frustration was clear in her voice, but I couldn't bear to look into her face.

"Sometimes I wonder if you aren't the same person. Both stubborn-assed idiots with too much insecurity! I've heard all it before, Bella, so believe me when I tell you this: You and Edward are two peas in a pod. Fuck whatever crazy shit you've got stuck in that head of yours about Dracula. He tried to kill you, and succeeded more than once in the past. The man was fucking bonkers! How can you even believe any of that shit you saw? None of it was true. Accept that already! You need Edward to make you whole, Bella, and he needs you. Apart, you are nothing. It's disturbing, but look at Carlisle and Esme! They _wouldn't_ survive without each other.

"There's a reason for it, Bella. There's a reason why you were born again, and it sure as shit had nothing to do with Dracula or the Volturi. Open your fucking eyes already, before I end up at another goddamned funeral!"

Rant finished, Tanya stalked back down the long tunnel. I really tried to hate her. I really wanted to.

Her shoes clacked angrily against the stones as she fled back down the corridor. The silence following her was explosive.

**

Stepping into the courtyard was a torture in itself. The day was overcast and brisk, the wind whipping into my chilled skin. But it wasn't the wind that caused goosebumps to trickle up my arms.

I hadn't been here since the night I walked with Vlad around the fountain. I pushed the terrorizing memory aside and took in the scene splayed before me. Dark curtains hung everywhere, shrouding the daylight in a subdued semblance of night. There were thousands of mourners gathered, standing in winding lines, waiting to glimpse the fallen couple. Carlisle had been well remembered in the aftermath of Volterra's fall, and his wife duly loved for her unending compassion.

Frail human hands touched the caskets as they bowed heads in prayer over their souls. I had no idea what lies were spread regarding the deaths, but I still saw Esme's dead form, and the pieces of Carlisle that were salvageable from the destruction of Castle Dracula. It had taken this long to hunt down the few parts we could, and I couldn't burn the offensive memories from my mind.

Carlisle had been gone long before the castle exploded, but I don't know whether it was a good thing or not. A soft cry left my lips, remembering how little of him had remained to be found, when I felt a pair of eyes settle on me. My own gaze was lured by the sensation and I searched for them across the courtyard.

I spotted the wolves first. Ten of the enormous pack made the journey to Volterra to pay their last respects to a man they considered a friend. They helped to fill the front row of chairs placed next to the coffins. I could see the female, Leah, her dark hair resting against the shoulder of her husband. She looked nothing as she had running through the battle with Edward clutched in her arms. Now, she seemed humbled, but not weak. I would never see her as that after having witnessed her strength and compassion first hand.

Standing above them, with the other survivors of Carlisle's family, Edward accepted the condolences of the passing mourners, his dark eyes locked on me. Every one of those two hundred thirty-seven days, I thought of his face, the angular jaw line, the wicked smile, the things I could never face again, and now here I was, lost in his beauty all over again.

The holes in my chest stung and reached for him. I clamped my hand on the corner of a building to refrain from either charging or to keep my dead heart from bursting through my chest. It was hard to stay still, half concealed in the shadows, but impossible to look away.

Emmett was on Edward's right, smile wiped completely from his countenance and replaced by weary eyes and slumped shoulders. He kept one arm firmly around his wife. She looked much better than the last time I'd seen her. Rosalie's recovery had been stop and go since the beginning, but Emmett's love and belief in his wife's strength shone through her ashy pallor. Even if she clung to her mate the way my fist clamped to the wall, I could see the intensity as she smiled benignly at the passing humans, occasionally taking the hand of a weeping widow or a crumbled countryman. She would never go down easy.

Jasper, tall heroic Jasper, stood next to her, rigid, pain etched into his face. The lure of the blood was awesome, but I doubted he ever felt less like tasting it. Hunger was overshadowed by immense heartache and Jasper took it all with the stoic façade of a soldier, though the emotion alone from this many grieving people would be enough to crush a lesser man. Next to him, his teeny wife shook with her own sorrow. Her head was bent, eyes fixed on the floor as she ignored the rush of condolences.

I stared at them. The Cullens. They were no longer bound by the force that created them, yet there they stood, united and together as they were meant to be. Each relied on the others for support and compassion in the time of their greatest woe. It was impossible to see, but wonderful to witness. In full testament to their patriarch, the Cullen family lived on, their morals intact and their pride infallible. They stood tall and proud, saying goodbye to both their father and mother in the only way they knew how.

_Edward loves you, _Tanya had said. _It's time you ease some of the pain._

Most unfortunate for me, she was right. I had to do something. It was my fault, after all. But two little words flashed through my mind. The words he'd said when he hung half dead and bleeding on that cross. _Not enough. _He told me everything with those two short words. I wasn't enough.

Felix moved from his place next to Tanya on the end of the row of werewolves and walked up to a small podium raised behind the rose covered caskets. Inside, I knew there was nothing more than the scattered ashes of the amazing people they represented, but he cleared his voice over the low murmurs of the crowd, and all attention fell to the powerful form as Felix began to speak.

His words were immediately potent, weaving emotions into the mourning crowd as he spun his beautiful and brilliant eulogy. He molded the stories of Esme and Carlisle with soft words and heartfelt sentiment, sharing his own misery with the thousands of grief-stricken ears. It was beyond exquisite the way he moved the audience with a profundity surpassing that of even the finest orator.

Felix's infinite strength magnified the power of his speech until not a single mourner was left without tear stained cheeks and heart untouched. There was a collective stutter through the rapt crowd, vampire and human alike, as my friend praised and commended every soul attending the memorial.

"Dream as if you'll live forever," he finished strongly. "But live as if you'll die today."

The crowds passed quickly then, taking their peace with nothing more than a touch on the flower draped coffins. When night had fallen completely and the humans were all but gone, I was still caught in the magnetic tug of war with Edward. His brothers and sisters slowly dispersed with a head nod toward me lurking deep in the shadows. I pressed myself into the building, dreading what I would say if I were to get the courage to take that enormous leap and step forward.

But it felt as wrong as it did right, despite the words Felix had said echoing in my head. Touching him with my bloodied hands was the foulest sin. How could he want me to? My love wasn't enough for him.

Edward growled, his voice rippling like the ever running water of the fountain. I could see the testament to Edward's love in my peripheral, flowing tier to tier with a melodic pattering. It reminded me how easily he accepted my love, as if he'd been waiting for it all along.

Making a split decision, I moved quickly to the edge of the fountain and sank onto the stone ledge that ran around it. My fingers instinctually reached for the tepid pool, caressing the rolling ebb like a well-acquainted lover and I shut my eyes. I heard his footsteps echo dully against the cobblestone plaza.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I exhaled heavily, and Edward's scent slammed my taste buds. I was high on him in an instant and my eyes pulled open to drink in his perfection. Up close his cheeks were sallow and pale, and thirsty eyes assured me he'd been feeding as little as I, and I longed to bring my fingers to touch the sunken hollows below his cheekbones. It took a forced effort to hold them firmly beneath the surface of the pool.

"You look…" he murmured. The sound of the sweet tenor sped chills through me.

I laughed, a nervous and unfamiliar noise. "I've seen better days."

A thousand memories crowded my mind, reminiscent of the way the plaza had been hours earlier. In each one was Edward's lopsided smile and twinkling eyes. I had seen hundreds of thousands of better days since he had come into my life.

Almost as if he could see my thoughts, Edward's lip curled a bit on one side, but it looked as strained as my own weary laugh sounded. He was capable of much more brilliancy. And I longed to see it, but hadn't I tortured him enough?

My body rose from the ledge of the fountain. He was so close. I only had to lift my arm and my palm would be resting against the tight planes of his chest. I bit my lip to stop me from moving. It wasn't mine to take.

He no longer attempted the fake smiles and cheeriness. His flawless face fell slack and dejected. His thirsty eyes stayed locked with mine, beckoning me. I could feel their call tugging at my muscles and bones, aching for them to reach out.

Instead, my mouth opened and I blurted, "It's been too long." Too long since my eyes worshipped him. Too long since my skin had reveled in his touch. Stupidly, I didn't finish my thought aloud.

Edward nodded shortly and didn't reply. The silence stretched over us awkwardly. My mind fumbled, searching for the right thing to say and knowing I didn't deserve to find it. Electricity slammed from his lean body and into me, revamping long forgotten sensations. He called to me, his body, his mind.

But it wasn't right. I hadn't done enough.

I made the mistake of speaking those words aloud, and suddenly Edward stepped away, much further than a mere arm's length. The abrupt distance left my chest burning. The space might just as well have been a million miles because it was further than I was capable of standing.

I had so many things to say to him, so many things to ask. I had endless apologies to make and I could not open my mouth in fear something else counterproductive would fall from my lips. But I had to say something. Already Edward's face seemed to be reining in. He was leaning back, ready to let me go. As I had asked him to.

So I said the only sentence that could come out unjumbled. "I'm sorry." For each errant thought, each lingering touch, for giving into the madness inside. For simply not being enough.

"No apologies, Bella," he hissed. The anger was blatant and unconcealed. I recoiled a bit from the strength of it.

But what else could I do? There were no other words to rectify the bottomless pit of my sins against him. I deserved every ounce of rage he threw at me. I deserved so much more than that, and if he struck me, I would not waver.

"But, but…" I stuttered, trying to control the anguish of his respite. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes.

"But I don't have enough to give," I finally choked from my throat, my shoulders falling forward in staggering defeat.

"Bullshit," he snarled.

My eyes opened, stunned at his harshness. Edward was leaning toward me now, black eyes straining to open me. Confusion wiped through and he saw the sting of his callousness. It hurt, though it was far less than I deserved. A thousand painful deaths would never make up for my venomous soul tainting his.

"Bullshit, Bella," he repeated. "And you know it."

My eyes roved over his, trying to make sense of his words. "I don't know what else I can do, Edward!" I shouted, hoping he understood my frustration. I would do anything to let him live in peace. "Tell me what I can do to make you happy! That's all I want."

He gazed at me, dozens of emotions flitting through those black eyes. But he was silent for a long moment before he spoke again. I saw his adam's apple bob as he swallowed.

This time, his voice was soft as velvet, luxurious as it poured through my ears. "My mother is dead, Bella. So is my father, my creator, my _friend_. I can't live another second of anguish when you're standing right here. You're right in front of me, and you won't reach out. Can you imagine what it feels like to be ripped apart in a hundred different ways, only to find it takes just one to kill you?"

I understood too well the torment he described. I just wasn't sure he knew what he was actually saying. He couldn't possibly mean what he said. What he meant was _not enough_.

Edward sighed tiredly, as if just uttering the admittance was completely draining.

"But there's nothing that can be done," he finished in a whisper.

I wasn't surprised by his words, I'd been expecting them, but the shock of actually hearing them in his dulcet tone slapped me hard. I almost stumbled backward from the impact, even bringing my hand to my untouched cheek.

Speech failed me as acceptance filled me with dread.

"I can't have you if you think you're unworthy of what I have to give."

I stared blankly.

"All that I am, Bella, is because you are a part of it. All that I have ever been has been in anticipation of you. I am guilty of as much wrong, as much misery. I too am a monster."

"No," I sighed. My arm raised and hovered in the empty space between us. "No, you are everything good, Edward. You are the only good I've ever had! Never say you aren't."

"I've told you my past." He moved a step closer. My hand was almost touching his strong chest. "I ran away from everything I knew to be right once before. I crushed Carlisle's ideals, taking life with no thought other than the momentary relief; believing I could use my abilities to render justice on the scum of mankind, only to find it was not enough to pacify my rage. You are far, far better than that. No one forced my hand. No one ever clouded my judgment with false memories and promises of things beyond comprehension.

"I saw into his mind, Bella. In the end, when I thought there was nothing left to fight for, he released it all." He paused, breathing heavily. I could feel the heat as it caressed my lips. He looked like he wanted to touch me. "He used you, manipulated you. But you still don't even realize it! You think _you're_ the evil. You think _you're_ the monster.

"Didyme didn't kill you. She and Marcus fought to save you, but it was too late. Vlad pushed you from the balcony, then staked his coven and set fire to them to keep the truth hidden, to keep _our love_ hidden, until the next time." He snarled the words. "That was not the first time he found you. It was like some sick game he played with our souls since the beginning of his existence. He's killed both of us in a thousand separate lives and a thousand different ways.

"He was never going to stop fucking with us."

"But I did kill those girls." The strangled words fell from me.

Edward's eyes softened perceptibly, the golden tones flooding in from along the black rims. "So you slipped. It's not the worst thing in the world. You saved me. You saved the others."

I shook my head casting away his last thoughts. "Carlisle lived half a century and never slipped." I had to make him see.

"Carlisle was better than any of us," Edward shot back. "He was the reason I came back from the edge all those years ago."

"But what did that get him, Edward? Denial didn't serve him in the end."

Edward placed his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look nowhere else but into the burning of his eyes. "It served him every day of his existence. It gave him a family; it gave him love. It was what saved me from becoming a complete animal."

"When I returned to him after playing God to hundreds of humans, my father embraced me with open arms, with a trust I knew I'd never deserve. He told me he would have followed me into my rebellion. He would have followed me anywhere, except for the one thing that made him stay. Esme. She's the piece that made all the difference in Carlisle's life."

"But he was perfect anyway," I interrupted. "Even without Esme." I would know. Esme had only been in his life for the blink of an eye.

Edward smiled. The first genuine smile I'd see from him in more than half a year.

"He wouldn't say so. He would say her love made him desire to be better, to be more than he ever tried to before."

I let Edward's words sink in, until I heard them in Carlisle's voice, ringing over and over through my ears. _Love makes you better. Love makes you live. _

"That's what you do to me," he continued in a low, almost shy voice. "You make me want to be everything I'm not, and change the things I can't. You're the light in my dark and I'm a better man just to have had your love in my arms. Without it there is nothing worth seeing, nothing worth fighting for. Please understand. Only _you_ have the power to save my tarnished soul, to make it salvageable from my own transgressions.

"Let me be that for you. I don't care what you've done. I don't care who you think you are. It doesn't matter, because it's not enough to make my heart stop living for you. It's not enough to change the way I feel. I already know you_._ Accept that, and reach out to me, damn it. Please, Bella, make me everything, too."

The palms of his hands pressed heavily into my shoulders, and I searched his face, looking for any sign he wasn't speaking the truth, hunting for any reason to justify the last two hundred and thirty-seven days of empty loneliness.

"But I can't be enough," I breathed quietly.

"You're right, you can't be _enough_. You're too much already. You're _everything_."

I found nothing more than a raw power swirling inside his magnetic body. The truth of his admittance danced inside my mind, coaxing me to accept it, pushing me to do what Edward wanted, and reach.

"_Just reach out_," Edward repeated when he sensed my nagging hesitation.

A hand lifted and I felt the cool smoothness of his fingertips as they brushed a loose strand of hair from my face. A shiver of excitement raced from the contact, spearing me straight through my body, deep into my psyche. My chest rose and fell with my quickened breathing, and Edward leaned forward even further, until the crisp cotton shirt he wore grazed the peaks of my chest.

Then, he pushed his chest so it ran flush with mine. I stopped mid breath, holding it in as I felt the muscular expanse mold to my marbled body. His lean torso pressed into my stomach, our hips smashed together until I could feel the sincerity of his words between my legs and in my heart.

"You're not a monster," he hissed, lips dangerously close to mine. "You're fucking perfect. Now, just _reach out_!"

So I did.

My arms rose, gliding over the taut muscles of his back that rippled beneath my light caresses. They slid up his neck and twisted into the silken strands of bronze hair.

That final day in Romania, before I was impaled, before Tanya appeared from nowhere and smote Vlad, I had dropped my head over Edward's lifeless body and kissed his ashy skin a thousand times, but refused to take his lips. I told myself he had to give them to me.

But as I forced Edward's head to bow lower, I threw that promise out the window and attacked his mouth with the fervor and longing I'd felt since he turned his back on me. My lips spread his; my tongue danced with joy as it worshipped the feel of him again.

Not once did he offer me that kiss, but I took it. I took everything I could from those familiar lips, the intimate groans, and I fed on it with more eagerness than I'd ever done before. The lust, instinctual and consuming growled and ripped, trying to break out and devour the passion like blood. His arms slid down me, around my pressing hips and settled in the small of my back, pulling me closer still.

When he finally pushed away, his forehead was on mine. Our breath mixed in the small space between us; the scent was everything beautiful in the world. In silence we absorbed it, relished it. And finally he curled his mouth into that perfectly crooked smirk. Sinful desire swirled in his eyes as he parted his lips to reveal venom coated teeth.

"I don't care Bella. None of it matters. Not one fucking bit. I want every piece of you, even the bad ones, even the ones you can't accept. You won't need to. I'll do it for you."

Suddenly his hands were pulling my arms down, circling my wrists with a tight grip.

"There's nothing I want more than you," he breathed. "Monster, angel, demon. I don't care. I don't belong anywhere else. I don't want anything else.

"Just never let this go."

"Never," I agreed.

Tears that could never fall welled inside my eyes as they poured over the bronze haired man I loved. No other word ever fell more naturally from my lips.

"_Never._"

**A/N: First and foremost, the line Felix says in the eulogy is a quote from James Dean, which makes me think of R Patz in a wifebeater, which makes me happy despite the depressing scene.**

**And I kind of like the song Another Heart Calls by The All-American Rejects. Not necessarily saying it goes with this chappie, but I listened to it an awful lot as I contemplated Bella and Edward's relationship through the course of the story. Just saying. **

**And this was going to be it, but with barely any effort, G talked me into that epilogue. So, instead of ending it at a funeral, you just might get that glimpse of the elusive HEA. It's written and in G's hands already. There will be no hesitation. Once its back in my greedy little paws it'll be posted.  
**

**So, alright. Hit me…**


	30. Epilogues

**Nothing Twilight is mine.**

**Ok, so this is it! I first want to thank Gondolier for her many months of patience and her ability to clean up my commas. She is a thousand shades of amazing, and it has been a pleasure getting to know her.**

**Secondly, this is for all my lovely reviewers who've been with me through this whole thing. Your comments and reviews are what kept me going when I got stuck. I wanted to list you all by name, but was afraid I'd leave someone out, so just know who you are and that I love you. ;)**

**Lastly, I went ahead and included both POVs here, because I liked hearing it from Bella, too. I hope that isn't a major turnoff, but I wanted her to have the last say....I think she would have wanted it that way.  
**

**Epilogue **

**Edward Cullen**

My fingers rested on the slick ivory keys, poised, ready for my soul to tell them how to move. They remained still, unmoving for days. My mind was a jumble, as if there was too much to make sense of, as if there were a thousand melodies floating there and it was impossible to find the underlying tune that would bring it all together into the masterpiece I knew it was.

It was like describing Bella, her beauty, her intelligence, her goddamn stubbornness that forced her to shoulder the blame, even when she was not at fault. Impossible.

But I don't know how I would have done it differently. She begged me not to go to Romania. She pleaded to let her go instead, but the mind of that madman, even that first glimpse, had been enough to tell me I didn't want my Bella anywhere near that animal.

My fingers trembled against the keys, but I held steady. I had gone with my family to Dracula's lair, hoping that we truly were on a mission to learn of the werewolf pack. And knowing we weren't. I was completely childish, immature and showing my seventeen years like a fucking spotlight. It wasn't about the wolves or about Carlisle. It was trying to prove something to the woman I loved. I didn't want her thinking I was weak, or unable to care for myself and family.

There has never been a more devastating moment than the one when I realized that's exactly what I was. I shouldn't have gone. No one should have gone. Not that it would have made things different. Our refusal to go to his castle would have only ignited Vlad's insanity here in Volterra. Bella might not have been able to get away.

Gently, I applied enough pressure to middle C, letting the sound of the note flow from the tip of my finger and carry into the room. It was a sad note. A lonely sound, echoing in my ears long after the tone had faded into the air. It was Bella. Alone, afraid, on her own for centuries.

I pressed another note, representing me, and I played it with the C again, stroking the notes softly until the sounds wound together.

The melody was familiar. I had played it for Bella the night we'd argued about Romania. She had heard the tune inspired by her very breath, but it was unsure, then. Unfinished.

I let my fingers begin to dance. The freeing sensations caressed my body as the reverberations hit me. This was all familiar. But before, I had ended it on such a sour note, such a wavering thought. It had broken her heart to hear me box our love with such uncertain emotion.

I had died in Romania. That was certain. I had ceased to exist. It might have been days or weeks, or it might have been but a moment. But I had given up, so thoroughly, that the only thing inside the nothingness was this song, dulling me into oblivion. Instead of repeating the discordant finish, I played it through. I let the other memories slide over me.

When I smelled her, tasted her freesia scent against my tongue, I came back. I lived again. I had reason to. It was Bella. It was always Bella.

My fingers nimbly crossed the keyboard, a sad, distressed melody, hardening the melodic whispers of her. But the notes became staccato and angry. I wasn't angry anymore. Not at her, but I couldn't help but relive the feelings as I played on.

I'd sensed her, and opened my eyes to see her with _him_, in ways I wish I could burn from my infallible memory. Embracing _him_. Kissing _him_ the way she had kissed me. It was then I truly wanted to die. Die and never awaken. How dare she bring me back from death to endure that brand of torture? There was nothing more horrifying than that. Not seeing my friends and family impaled and dying, not being crucified in some horrific martyrdom. But watching Bella with Dracula like two long lost lovers, seeing her want him, need him, was more than I could face. I'd never truly given up faith until that moment. I had never quit believing that with love there would be hope.

The music turned sad and pressing. The weight of the notes were heavy against my fingertips and pleading to be put out of their misery. But I played on, desperate now to tell this story with my music.

She left with him. Left me alone in the pits of the castle, bleeding and mourning the loss of the only thing good that I ever held in my stone fingers. And worse than anything, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I couldn't tell if he wanted her as much as she wanted him, but I smelled the blood, long before they returned. I tasted the sweet innocence on my tongue and knew it was over. She was giving him what he thought she was. And maybe Bella was exactly as she had been. _His _wife. _His _lover.

I choked as my fingers began to pick up speed, demonstrating my frantic feelings when she had returned to the dungeon with her hand in his. There were no words that could ever begin to describe the emotions boiled through me. I'd lost her. I'd lost her to a madman and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I couldn't fight. My venom was seeping from the holes in my hands and feet and chest, and pooling beneath me. I couldn't even move. I just began to hope for death, wishing this time it would actually take me.

The notes dulled completely. I gave in to the nothingness. I let it take me, wanted it to. And then I felt her breath on my face…warm and fresh and everything I never wanted to taste again. Hadn't I endured enough? Why would she return and torture me more, kill me again and again?

The tune quickened as my fingers played out the sounds of fighting. I hadn't been able to open my eyes. I hadn't been able to see it, but I couldn't stop from hearing as she fought with him. While it was happening I couldn't make sense of it. I thought he'd turned on her.

I was devastated.

And I was pleased.

Furiously, I pounded on the black and white keys, the one thing that had remained constant in this life. My soul poured through my fingers, frenzied and melancholy in the same instant.

"All that I am is _his_."

Her voice. I had been sure of that, but so confused. The way she looked at him, crimson eyes glowing with lust was too ingrained on my eyelids. It was impossible to dispel.

I slammed the keys hard, playing a chord brimming with pain and conflict. Then, the feeling of a dozen poles shredding into my stone flesh and a high-pitched keening, hold four beats, then a pause. Nothing, before my fingers ghosted the keys again, throwing soft whispers into the fading resonance of the high notes. It was a funeral dirge, low and sad. I died then. I don't remember anything after that scream burned through my throat, when the stakes ripped apart more than undead flesh. I felt my entire conscious slip up and out of the pain, leaving me broken in a million ways.

The lament continued until the first thought. I was still outside my body, floating above it, and when I hit the ground I slammed back inside myself, able to feel every pain, each agony. The notes hit hard, but panted on with suffering, anguish. But not for the open, bleeding wounds. For the torn heart that would never truly live, not without its light.

Then, suddenly, Bella's harmony began again as she picked me up, cradling me to her chest. I tried to speak, to open my eyes and tell her to put me down, leave me to die. But I was weak. My notes played softly beneath those of her running feet. How sweetly the sound filled my ears, tender and loving, when at the time, I felt beyond hope.

The momentum built against the pads of my fingers, pulsing and rippling, gaining strength. An explosion, ripping through me but not into me. Drip, drip, drip, three staccato notes flicked the keys. Bella's venom burning, giving me strength.

It beat from me in a sudden flurry, strong and hard as everything came into sharp focus. It was a whirl of insane flats and sharps, blending furiously, as Vlad's mind slammed into view.

His lips were on her neck and as he sucked my Bella's life away, a thousand memories flooded into him. He was reliving the past, darker and more crazed than I would have believed. It was insanity.

Before the birth of Christ, he stood in a dark alleyway, completely human, watching the street from the shadows. His heart pounded; my fingers captured it, his rage and jealousy as a hooded woman stepped into the moonlight and another figure—a man—met her. Their fingers embraced, and the man slid his hand to reveal the braided and coiled hair of the woman I loved. But more surprising was when they leaned together to kiss, Vlad charged them.

Through his mind I saw him slash and bite with his human teeth, tearing at the flesh of the man as Bella's screaming echoed behind. It was not until I saw the piercing green eyes as Vlad ripped away a chunk of the man's throat that I knew what I was looking at. Myself. Two thousand years ago, meeting with the woman I loved still to this day.

My fingers played the surprise, the first glimpse of insight, as he showed me a hundred other glimpses. A hundred other lives Dracula stalked Bella and I, destroying what was always meant to be. Incredulity spun through my mind at the memories.

When Bella was born to Didyme and Marcus, he thought he finally had his chance. And she had wanted him when she was Elizabeta. My fingers hit the notes weaving a mysterious and cold tune. She had loved him.

But the melody brightened again, because she glimpsed me from the balcony—a worn traveler, seeking comfort from the storms. Bella brought me into the castle full of both the Romanian and Volturi covens, and hid me deep inside. But Vlad was powerful. Using all the powers surrounding him, it wasn't hard for Dracula to discover her secret.

He pushed Bella from the balcony of his castle, her brown eyes wild in surprise. My fingers twirled down the keyboard, the end of her, and the beginning of something else. He had kept us apart in every single existence, desperate to make her love him.

Yet, somehow, she always found me.

I screamed out when the knowledge dawned. Miraculously, I lunged for him, strengthened by Bella's venom coursing through my veins. He was sucking Bella dry, lips firmly on her throat, hands gnashing wildly at her body. Her wounds were dripping, a sound that flowed effortlessly into the melody.

With all my force I knocked him away, falling on top of Dracula with a heavy thud. He kicked hard into my stomach, but there was nothing else. I flew away and opened my eyes to a golden haired goddess, tearing Vlad's head from his shoulders with a murderous look in her familiar honeyed eyes.

Relief instantly gave way to shuddering as the entirety crashed against my haggard soul, pushing out every bit of foulness, every minute trace of poison Vlad used to taint my soul. _Our souls_. He poisoned all of us with his projections and memories. He was feeding us more lies than truths, using our abilities against one another. Until the moment my Alaskan cousins set fire to his dismembered body, he fed a constant stream of thoughts, unveiling all his transgressions.

My music caught the detonation of venom from my weak and depraved soul. It exploded that poison, that infection until I carried it no more. My notes softened, sweetened. It didn't matter. She was meant to be _mine_. A hundred lifetimes or a thousand, it didn't change anything. Our souls were bound together with something much deeper than simple love.

The elation gave forth to misery again as she told me to let her go. It was impossible. I could never let Bella go, not before any of this and especially not now that I understood the reasons behind it. But I couldn't force her to be with me. She had to want me, and to do that she had to understand.

I let the background fade away as a solitary and anguished tune wept from my hands. It was hazy, lonely, everything I felt those months away. It grieved for the loss of my parents, knowing Esme had given up when she felt Carlisle's soul ripped from this world. No one had been there to witness it, but I had to believe she knew when he was gone, and she let herself go with him. Understanding that we were not bound to one existence, seeing what was possible, I had hope their souls were tied like mine was to Bella's and they would again find peace in each other.

Grief and anger shook me. I trembled at the edge of my smoothed bench, poised precariously above the keys. I let the solitary melody ignite the moment I saw my radiant goddess once more. She clutched to the wall, afraid to move. The notes caught her fight, summed it up in a few purposeful strokes. I'd seen how badly she wanted to come to me, to comfort me when I was not the one in need. I had accepted the loss of Carlisle and Esme. And even as much as they meant to me, it was nothing without her.

The trickle of the fountain--the testament of my love--bled into music, harmonizing those anxious moments when she would not see. Heartbreak over and over as she tried to pull from me. But I was tired of staying away from her. It drained me, sucked away every bit of emotion until I was a nothing more than a shell, without harmony to my soul.

Bella could be the most foul and venomous creature to ever walk this earth, and it didn't fucking matter. I'd love her in spite of it all. Nothing could change that. Not a thousand lives, not a million breaths. None of it meant anything without her.

Harmony and melody berated one another, growing stronger, wilder, until the crescendo burst from the tips of my flying fingers and resounded around the room. The door opened and Bella's scent slapped me in the face. Her breathing was deep, engaged and I pounded on, spilling the entwined rapture of our souls, letting it pull her to me. She slipped into the room and closed the door but I played on, focused on every single feeling and emotion of love that I felt.

She was _here, _my reason for living, the reason I was sitting on this bench, forming my soul into the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. And I wanted to share that with her, because nothing would ever be truer and more natural than loving Bella.

My fingers climbed higher, my spirit soared. How many countless lives I'd been robbed of the accompaniment of her love! How many lives wasted without her!

But this is what it built to. This was the symphony of my heart. After losing hold of hundreds of dreams along the way, she was the reason I played so sure and strong now. I needed this. _Her. _And now we had eternity at our fingertips. We had forever, and nothing would sever the ties that bound me to her. We were incased in steel and wrapped in iron. Our love was impenetrable, even by ourselves.

Every day in the rest of our existence we will worship the depth of our love. There will not be one single day I don't.

The last note wavered in the air, sweet and pure. I raised my hands from the keys, feeling the electricity pulse between the minute space. I wanted to play it again. I wanted her hear it over and over.

I looked up to see the face of everything beautiful in my life. I loved her with each strand of my being. Her radiance, her surprised smile, the look in her eyes told me she understood every note I played for her, loved every bit as hard as I did.

Excitement lit inside me. All pieces fit together perfectly, and we had an eternity to explore each groove, every nuance between us.

But this was better than any heaven. Here we were still flesh and desire.

So I placed my hand around hers and pulled her beside me on the bench. I played our song again, this time absolutely making love to her with every note as it seeped from my soul. And when I finished, I attacked her with more than notes. Mind and body I gave over to my Bella, worshipping her like the sweetest of melodies, burying my love deep inside her.

We rejoiced in each other, relished and delighted, because we had been building to this for eons. Nothing else mattered but that we found our hearts and souls and we bound them together so tightly, nothing would break through.

This was it. I never wanted anything else. Just Bella clenching around me and moaning as my fingers danced over her skin, and she urged my climax to crescendo with hers.

_This_ was music.

_This _was heaven.

**

**Bella**

He was calling me home. I felt it, a tug inside my chest, pulling me to him. My feet barely touched the smooth stones beneath them, as I floated through the labyrinth beneath Volterra. I knew it was twilight outside. The tides of darkness have their own pull over me.

So I fled the blackness of the dungeons, the books and scrolls I had been scrutinizing, and ran to the streets of my beloved city, into the dulcet navy tones that had blanketed its walls. It was easy to leave it all behind. Once I knew what truths to look for, the evidence of everything was clear. I poured over everything I could, finding strength in the truth. The real truth and it was easy to look away.

Especially with _him _calling.

The connection was different now. The change took place long before reconciliation, but it burned stronger and hotter every day since. Even those consuming days spent alone and broken, that fibrous thread remained attached, healing in its own ways and irrevocably tying us to each other.

We had bled for each other, _into _each other, and it made us attached in ways I never thought possible. I never knew I would be able to love him more than I had before. I never knew this kind of connection existed, except in fairy tales. This went deeper than the simple magnetism we'd always shared. This was a complete stitching of our very selves, so intricately woven that we knew no end and no beginning. We just were. Together.

That is how I knew he was guiding me to him. It was a feeling, niggling the center of my chest, and it was impossible to ignore and even harder to deny.

Few stars twinkled this early in the evening, yet all of Volterra seemed to sleep already, giving me free passage home that dusky summer evening. The breeze that swept in the night was cool against my skin, refreshing from being holed up in the enclosed and dank dungeons below. I inhaled deeply the sweet scent of my city, the tastes of a thousand different treasures dancing on my tongue.

It was a beautiful city, my city, and somewhere in the past decade I had come to love each and every piece of it, human and animal and stone alike. I loved it. It was truly home now.

It was as it always was, when I turned the final corner of the street. I heard him, playing and soothing with nimble and quick hands. The sensual sound of his piano echoed against the dark background of night, calling me back to his arms. But it wasn't until I stood on the front stoop, my hand poised over the door handle that I actually realized I recognized the masterpiece he played. I'd heard it, in part, on a night ten long years ago. Even before the infamous battle for our souls. It had been at a time we were not so firmly attached, not so completely safe and sure about what we were.

It was the same song, yet infinitely more. The hauntingly sweet melody that he used to torture me was there, rising and falling slowly, harshly. That was as I remembered, the core of who I was, alive inside his sharp notes.

But now, another tune played harmoniously with that of the familiar one, weaving and wrapping in and out, making it flow and grow. Each note resounding against the one before, ringing with a bitter intensity that drove deep into my soul.

My eyelids closed and I relished in the sounds of Edward's music, letting the notes seep in and blossom, as the melody went from haunting and hard, to light and strong. That first part, the forced melody that reflected my rashness and anger wove between the more delicate notes, until it was impossible to distinguish which was meant for either of us. It was a perfect blend of light and dark, a perfect union of rhythm and melody.

And as the crescendo beat its way through the nimble fingers of my love's hands, building, stronger and wilder, he seamlessly wrapped together in a delicate balance. The masterpiece revealed the deepest parts of our love in honeyed tones, until I swayed under the gravity of his magnificence. It was far more than anything he had created. It was beyond the richest and most moving music I had ever heard. It was raw. Sex and passion, desire and need, and all wrapped together with a mischievous wickedness that couldn't be ignored.

It was us.

The last chord echoed from behind the door. I stilled, waiting as the final tone hummed to nothingness. Even without opening the door I could see him, perched on the edge of his bench, head bent low over his beloved ivory keys, bronze hair disarrayed and hanging in his face. He would be soaking it in, hearing it again. I doubted if the piece had ever been played aloud before, and he'd be inhaling the minute reverberations still trembling through the air, reliving the symphony of his soul as the notes replayed in his mind. I stayed firmly planted on the other side of the thin piece of oak, wanting to weep for the force of what I'd heard.

Suddenly the door flew open, and I was staring into brilliantly golden eyes. They twinkled with his satisfaction as they met mine and that oh so sexy smirk slid right into place.

"You heard it," he sighed in saturated relief.

"It called me home," I answered, smiling a bit myself despite the emotional overload the music inspired.

Then, he moved closer, closing his fingers around my hips. The pressure of his hands only served to repeat the melodies all over again, the intricacies clarifying the more I thought about them. He was amazing.

"I've been dreaming about this for a long time, Bella. This song has been torturing me for years, but I got it!" The excitement showed him for the truth of his seventeen years. Like a child on Christmas, he was giddy and glowing. I could almost see the halo between the wisps of bronze.

"That was amazing," I laughed, throwing my hands against his chest.

Edward's smile widened. He leaned in and the gold of his eyes began swirling with intensity.

"It was…indescribable," I breathed under the pull of his gaze.

"I love you."

No hesitation, no alluding. Right to the point. My Edward.

His strong arms tugged and we were inside, door closing as he led me to the piano. He slid down onto the worn bench, pulling me with no effort. His fingers left my body and poised over the keys, but his eyes still held mine.

And he began again. Each note hitting sharper, deeper than the first time, as he made love to me with his music, soft and sweet and hard and moving.

And when he was done, before the last note dissipated quietly, he was on me, saying it all again with his lips against my mouth. He was everywhere, fingers dancing sweet melodies against my burning flesh.

As the clothes fell one by one, he kissed and played all my scars as I traced each line on his. And it was easy. Simple. Loving Edward was natural. As natural as making love to him, over and over, with the sweet tune of our love inspiring the pace.

It was deep and explosive, because our souls were entwined to each other. Our bodies and minds craved the ultimate connection, and came together passionately, feverishly. Life had moved on, past breakdowns, past grieving and loss. Love survived it all, even through the most insurmountable obstacles. We built our lives on and around every experience, until it became what it was at that moment, culminating in ecstasy and nakedly wrapped in the arms of my soul mate.

Our movements were frantic, begging to pull each other further in, closer to the edge, deeper into the bliss. With quiet, earth shattering shudders, we bled again. Into each other. _For_ each other. And there was nothing more than thundering silence as the climaxes waned, and our breathing evened.

How simple it had all been, when laid on the line. How quickly the pieces fell into place, seamlessly tying it up in a pretty red bow.

Edward loved and wanted me, for who I was, for who he felt when he looked into my eyes. And I never wanted for anything except my bronze god and that crooked smirk that curled my toes.

I'd almost broken under the strain. I'd almost given into insane fancy without ever realizing the true fantasy was standing right in front of me.

Once I actually trusted in myself to reach out, Edward had taken all those severed ties, all those broken pieces that had left me shattered and afraid, and he pulled them into himself. He held them tightly taking with him all my doubts, all my loathing and rage, and leaving me with nothing more to do than love him.

And that I did, until my heart cried and my soul bled, then I loved him harder and stronger still, because I needed to. It was the only way I could live each day.

I could only love Edward. It had only ever been Edward.

The maniac had plagued our lives for centuries, determined not to let our souls find destiny, but love prevailed. The concealed half truths Vlad fed me were some twisted reality he developed to mangle my mind. Some of it was true. Didyme and Marcus were my birth parents in the most previous life, and I had fallen in love with Vlad. But he never revealed the truth in its entirety. He had been the one to hunt me down and throw my half mortal body from the balcony. Because I had met someone else. Someone I knew to my soul.

As if it were some cruel twist of fate, Edward and I would fall victim to the murderous jealousy of the madman over and over. It became an obsession, an insane desire to keep us apart at all costs. He could employ the use of any power at a whim. It was impossible to tell all the things he'd been capable of through the ages.

But what it came down to was none of that mattered, not even the parts that were foul enough to bring a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, I had been a nasty and disgusting monster. Yes, I fed on the flesh and blood of innocence, existence after existence, but now there was something else. Something stronger tying me to happiness: my Edward, my everything, my constant source of light amongst the eons of dark. And now, at last, our souls had not only found each other, there was nothing left in this world that could tear them apart.

A hundred lifetimes of being lost and alone. A hundred chances stolen, but everything built up to this, this moment when so entwined and tangled as we came together, like the world swallowed us whole, and nothing else existed.

Only Edward.

Only us.

**A/N: Since this is the absolute final chapter, you have to show me some love. That's the reason I write, so even if you just say I'm a complete wacko, I want to hear it.**

**Also, for those of you who are not as behind on twific as I am, check out Edward Wallbanger by feathersmmmm on ff, and Forbidden Desires by IsalndWoman221 on Twilighted. Both are super sexy and totally worth a look.**

**Or, of course, (get ready for some shameless plugging) you can go check out the new twific I've started. In the Shadows is something different for me, in that there are no vampires. At all. I know, I thought the day would never come. It is, however, going to be a dark and eerie love story, so I think you should check it out.**

**As always, I am a plethora of twific love, and if I don't know about it, I want to hear about it. So leave me reviews and PMs and be blessed with sugar coated Edward's dancing through your head. :) **


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